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ATMA FAIRY STORIES 


BY 

LAURA C. HOLLOWAY-LANGFORD 
ELIZABETH P. CHAPIN 
MAUDE RALSTON 



HOME PUBLISHING COMPANY 
NEW YORK 


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Copyright, 

By Laura C. Holloway- Langford. 


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BURR PRINTING HOUSEj 
NEW YORK. 


CONTENTS 


PAGE 

THE MAGIC FAN, 3 

Laura C. Holloway-Langford. 

BABY DEAR, 4I 

Elizabeth P. Chapin. 

THE INVISIBLE ROBES, 45 

Elizabeth P. Chapin, 

THE SUN IS LOW, $2 

Elizabeth P. Chapin. 

THE OPHIR GIFT, 55 

Maude Ralston. 

ROCK-A-BYE BABY, 6 1 

Elizabeth P. Chapin. 

MOON LAND, 65 

Maude Ralston. 

BABr’s GOOD-NIGHT, 72 

Elizabeth P. Chapin. 

THE GARDEN OF JOY, 75 

Maude Ralston. 

THE CARES OF DAY, 82 

Elizabeth P. Chapin. 

THE GOLDEN GRAPES, 85 

Elizabeth P. Chapin. 

Hi 


CONTENTS 


PAGE 

THE DAY IS ENDED, 9 ° 

Elizabeth P. Chapin. 

pearl's godfather, 93 

Maude Ralston. 

hushaby lullaby, loi 

Elizabeth P. Chapin. 

THE SILENT LADY, 105 

Laura C. Holloway-Langford. 

A FAIRY TALE, 124 

Maude Ralston. 

mag's flowers, 127 

Maude Ralston. 

WHAT THE ROBIN TOLD SHIRLEY, I33 

Laura C. Holloway-Langford. 

WHAT HAPPENED TO MARLY, I37 

Maude Ralston. 


IV 


THE MAGIC FAN 


















ATMA FAIRY STORIES 


THE MAGIC FAN. 

It was nearing the Christmas season. 
Only grown-up people could go on sedately 
about their ordinary duties and act unconcern- 
edly over the approach of the holidays. Chil- 
dren were excited about presents and Christ- 
mas trees, and they were becoming so restless 
at school that the teachers had their patience 
severely tried at every session. 

Ellen, the best student in the village 
school, and the head of her class the year 
round, had unwittingly permitted herself to 
become infected by the prevailing excitement, 
and had allowed her mind to be diverted 
from her lessons, an unusual thing for her to 
do, while she had listened to some of the 
girls describe the wonders of the mechanical 
3 


ATM A FAIRY STORIES 


dolls and other toys seen by them in the city 
shop windows. 

The result was that as school opened, El- 
len’s thoughts were not on her books, and 
she felt listless and indifferent when she took 
her place to recite with her class. She failed 
in her lesson, and her place at the head of the 
school would have been forfeited if every 
other girl in the section had not missed like- 
wise. There was no apparent reason for it, 
for the lesson was not difficult; but the 
atmosphere was charged with exciting 
thoughts, and when the star pupil failed a 
mental panic seized the class, and the cha- 
grined teacher punished the whole section by 
ordering that they be kept in one hour. As 
the school was to have a half-holiday, it was 
a severe punishment for those who had other 
plans for the afternoon. For Ellen it was a 
painful and unusual experience, but she suf- 
fered more on account of her teacher than for 
any other reason. She tried to study all the 
hour that she sat at her desk, but she 
could think of nothing but of her dear 
4 


THE MAGIC FAN 


mother, who would be so amazed at her 
daughter’s conduct. She longed, too, to go to 
her teacher and tell her how truly sorry she 
was, and she resolved to do so after she had 
talked with her mother. 

When the hour of punishment was ended 
and the monitor had dismissed the class Ellen 
waited until all the girls had gone away, and 
then she gathered her books and her lunch- 
bag and went off for a long walk by herself. 
She wanted to be out in the sunshine and 
alone, and she sought a familiar pathway that 
led away from the village and into the pretty 
woods where she and her schoolmates were 
in the habit of going to play their games. 
To-day these woods were deserted, for the 
children were in the village, and the quiet and 
peace of the place invited Ellen to sit down 
and enjoy nature. She did so, and thought 
she would eat her lunch there, but instead she 
began to cry. This made her head ache after 
a time, and she arranged a pillow for her- 
self with her bag and her books and lay down 
on the low bench to rest and to try to think. 

5 


ATM A FAIRY STORIES 

She did not know it, but she was really a 
very tired young girl after the excitement of 
the morning, and though she did not intend 
to do so, she fell fast asleep. The sunshine 
warmed her, for the soft south wind made 
it possible for the sun to keep the air very 
pleasant, and Ellen might have slept on there 
for hours if unmolested; but she had not 
been asleep ten minutes when a hungry Rab- 
bit, in search of food, smelled her untasted 
lunch, and, hunting for it, jumped on her 
hand and roused her from her light slumber. 
She sat up, looked around her, and could not 
at first remember herself — where she was, 
or why she was not at home. Then the in- 
cidents of the day recalled themselves to her 
mind and she decided to hasten home to her 
mother. But just then the scared Rabbit, who 
had been watching to see how he could make 
another attempt to get something to eat, ran 
off, and as she sat looking at him — not real- 
izing that he had been the means of her sud- 
den awakening — she saw coming toward her 
from behind the bushes a strange-looking lit- 
6 


THE MAGIC FAN 


tie creature, who tripped along gaily and who 
came to where she was sitting, doffed his cap 
and said: 

“Good-day, Ellen. You have been asleep. 
Do you feel better?” 

“Yes, thank you,” she answered. 

“That is well. Now, then, you are ready 
to hear the message I have been sent to de- 
liver to you. The Princess has come to her 
Castle, and she wants to see you there.” 

“Princess ! Castle !” thought Ellen. “There 
are no such things here.” 

“Oh, you are mistaken. I caused you to 
sleep by shaking poppies over you, and I wak- 
ened you by telling the Rabbit how to run 
over you and hunt for something to eat. 
Now, I am here to show you the way to the 
Castle of the Princess. Will you go with 
me?” 

“I thank you. I am sure you are kind and 
good, and I want you to know I like you, but 
I cannot go with you. I must return to my 
home.” 

“Come first to the Princess, and then you 

7 


ATM A FAIRY STORIES 


will go home glad and happy. Everybody 
is glad who sees our Princess, and she is al- 
ways making people wish they were Fairies 
because she is one.” 

“Oh, then you are a Fairy! I am sure 
you are now, though I never saw one before. 
And I will go with you, for I want to know 
the Fairies.” And so saying, Ellen sprang up, 
gathered her belongings and turned to fol- 
low the curly-headed little being, who kept 
just ahead of her in leading the way he 
wanted her to follow. And at that moment 
Ellen saw the Rabbit again, and with him two 
pretty Squirrels, one of which appeared to 
be lame, and the other was helping him 
along with a patient fidelity that was touch- 
ing. 

Instantly she thought of her untasted 
lunch, and, opening her bag, she took from it 
the food that her mother had prepared for her 
midday meal. 

“Here, you dear little fellows; here is 
your dinner.” And she threw them sand- 
wiches, nuts and fruit, and enjoyed seeing 


THE MAGIC FAN 


them eat it so ravenously. Ellen was glad she 
had the food with her to give, and mentally 
resolved to come back to the place the next 
day with plenty of nuts for the little invalid 
particularly, for she could see that he had been 
injured in some way and was in no condition 
to take care of himself. The Fairy watched 
her approvingly, and then walked on toward 
the denser woods and down through a ravine 
where she had never been before, and in the 
very centre of which stood a great tree with 
limbs that grew as low as the ground on all 
sides, and completely shut out the view of the 
space behind it. 

The Fairy went skipping and hopping 
around it, and Ellen followed after him as 
fast as she could. Back of this great tree she 
was surprised to see a high cliff, which she 
thought was the end of the ravine, and, as 
there was no Princess in sight, she was about 
to ask the Fairy if he had not lost his way, 
when he ran quickly to a great rock that lay 
against the cliff, tapped on it with his silver 
wand, and, lo ! it moved away and Ellen saw 
9 


ATM A FAIRY STORIES 


that behind it was a door and wide passage- 
way, and through and beyond this passage 
was a beautiful garden. The many flowers 
there attracted her attention, and she hastened 
to the Fairy’s side, entered the door and 
passed into the elfin world with him. 

Fountains were playing, birds were singing in 
every tree and bush, swans were sailing on the 
toy lakes, and lovely Fairies were dancing and 
singing everywhere. At first Ellen did not 
notice the beautiful Castle, but, as more and 
more sunshine poured down upon the garden, 
she saw it off in the distance, glittering like 
a sea of diamonds in the golden light that was 
upon everything. Never had she known any- 
thing so beautiful. All the tints of all the 
wonderful rainbows she had ever seen could 
not compare with the colors that were re- 
flected in this gorgeous Castle. She was daz- 
zled, and then she was frightened and for the 
moment thought she should run back through 
the arched door and away from so many 
sights so new and curious to her. But before 
she had quite resolved to do this she saw new 

lO 


THE MAGIC FAN 


scenes that pleased her afresh, and her atten- 
tion was attracted in so many directions that 
she finally forgot her resolution and yielded 
herself to the enchantments of the time and 
place. 

Looking about, she realized that the Fairy 
who had guided her there was not with her, 
but at that instant she saw a young girl, about 
her own size, coming toward her. El- 
len was delighted to meet her, and felt more at 
home with her than with the strange Fairy — 
nice as he was — and she quite forgot that she 
had intended to go back, and took the hand of- 
fered her as though she had known the 
owner of it all her life. 

The graceful child was dressed in an azure- 
tinted gauze silk, and she had on her head 
the most wonderful wreath of little white 
flowers that Ellen had ever seen, and they 
were so fragrant that all the air seemed filled 
with their perfume. Ellen felt that she had 
never imagined any one could be quite so gen- 
tle and lovely. 

“The Princess invites you to her Castle, El- 


ATM A FAIRY STORIES 


len, and I am come to take you there. Will 
you come with me?” 

“Is it right for me to go?” thought Ellen. 

“Yes,” replied Rosemary — for that was her 
name — and she answered just as though she 
had heard Ellen speak. 

The two walked toward the Castle, Ellen 
wishing as she went along that she was dressed 
in her white party dress instead of her school 
gown. 

When they reached the Castle steps they 
heard low, soft music, such as Ellen imagined 
she had heard many times before when she 
was in the woods. Soon she was in the pres- 
ence of the Princess and stood before her 
throne. 

Ellen knew which she was the moment she 
looked at all the Fairies in the hall, for the 
Princess was very beautiful and her crown 
was full of stars, or jewels that twinkled like 
stars. 

“Welcome, Ellen, to our home. I have in- 
vited all my people to greet you with music 
and dancing.” 


12 


THE MAGIC FAN 


“Thank you,” answered Ellen bashfully. 

“And now, Ellen, as you gave your food to 
the suffering little Squirrel, I want you to eat 
something, and the gardener has just grown 
some strawberries for you which I know you 
will like.” 

And thus speaking, she motioned to Ellen 
to sit down in the chair Rosemary had 
brought for her. A Fairy instantly appeared 
with a boat that was made of large leaves and 
which was filled with wonderful-looking 
strawberries. Ellen had never seen anything 
like them before, and the sight of them made 
her realize how very hungry she had grown. 
But, then, as suddenly another thought came 
to her, which was that she could never eat — no 
matter how hungry she might be — before so 
many strange people. Quick as a flash she 
was surrounded by a screen that was covered 
with pictures of swans swimming in clouds, 
and she began eating with an eagerness that 
showed she needed food. Before she had re- 
alized what she had done, she had swallowed 
every one of the luscious berries. 


ATM A FAIRY STORIES 


“Oh, dear!” she thought, “the Princess will 
consider me a greedy girl.” 

Instantly the screen disappeared, and a 
Fairy took her hand to lead her to the Prin- 
cess. Then all the Fairies commenced to waltz 
in pairs to the music the band was playing, 
and such whirling of bodies and swinging of 
feet she had never seen or heard of before. 
Ellen thought them the happiest creatures the 
world contained. And they were, for they 
were in a place attuned to perfect happiness, 
whereas Ellen lived in a world where people 
do not permit themselves to believe they can 
be wholly happy, no matter how good their 
God is to them. 

The Princess talked to Ellen as though she 
had known her for years, and about her home 
and her school, and the failure of that morn- 
ing. 

“Ellen,” she said, “I made you miss your 
lesson to-day. No harm will come to any 
one because of it. I wanted you to visit me, 
and I did not see how else to invite you. A 
Fairy was sent to throw a vapor on your brain 

14 


THE MAGIC FAN 

and make you feel drowsy and listless. Then 
I had you fanned with a magic fan, and that 
caused you to want to take a walk alone before 
you went home.’* 

“A magic fan! I wonder what that is?” 
thought Ellen. 

“A magic fan is a Fairy’s best possession, 
Ellen, because it is easier to carry about than a 
wand, and if you know how, you can do any- 
thing you like by just touching it. If you had 
a magic fan, for instance, you could have all 
the Christmas presents you wish, and, in fact, 
anything that a Fairy can command for you.” 

“Oh, how nice !” exclaimed Ellen. 

“What would you do if you had a fan like 
this, Ellen?” 

“I do not know, ma’am; but I would ask 
mother, and she would tell me.” 

“And is your mother such a wise woman, 
Ellen?” 

“She is just as the angels are, I believe. 
Princess.” And Ellen’s eyes as she said this 
glowed with the light of fond love. 

“Very well said, Ellen. Now, listen to me. 

I5i 


ATM A FAIRY STORIES 


The little girl who brought you to me just now 
came here much as you did, though she is with- 
out a mother and lives with her sister, who 
does not love her and does not care what she 
grows up to be. Her home is on the other 
side of the earth, and it is night there now, so 
she is here. She has a wishing cap, given to 
her by a Fairy, and every night, the moment 
she has said her prayers and gone to bed, she 
puts it on and wishes to be in Fairyland, and 
then she comes as quick as a flash. She stays 
until the night is nearly ended, and then is 
taken back. Would you like to come here that 
way sometimes?” 

“Yes, ma’am.” 

“You have a dear home, and your moth- 
er’s heart would break if anything happened 
to you that she did not understand, so I shall 
give you a magic fan, and you can tell her 
about it and show her how you are permitted 
to use it. If you do with it as you are to be 
told, you can have all that you desire, but 
you will lose it whenever you break the Great 
Law.” 


i6 


THE MAGIC FAN 


“Do Fairies have laws?” 

“Fairies obey Creation’s laws, Ellen, just 
as your mother and you try to do, and so long 
as they do they are happy. 

“They do not have to work and earn 
money, and be poor and go hungry, as some 
people do?” said Ellen. 

“No, dear, they do not. And when earth- 
people know more about themselves they will 
not have to suffer or want to inflict suffering. 
You are not old enough to understand this, 
and I will wait awhile before I tell you more. 
Now I want to know what you would like to 
have from Fairyland for your mother?” 

Ellen did not answer. She was thinking of 
so much her mother needed; of many different 
things she would like to take to her; but she 
said nothing, for she did not know what an- 
swer to make. 

“Thank you, Ellen,” said the Princess. 
“Your mind opened itself to me, and I have 
read all that I wish to know of your mother’s 
needs. You shall have everything your lov- 
ing heart craves for her, if you will prom- 


ATM A FAIRY STORIES 

ise to obey the Law that I will explain to 
you.” 

“I do not know if I can.” 

“We Fairies, Ellen, ask nothing that is im- 
possible, but if you learn the Great Law and 
obey it you will be far wiser, and stronger and 
greater than you can imagine. The Great 
Law is what you call the Golden Rule, and 
Fairies live under it. If mortals did, they 
could make their world an enchanted land 
and all the elements would obey their slight- 
est commands. But I must give you your 
fan and send you home before your mother 
gets anxious about you.” 

The Fairy Princess touched a green bell 
that was on her table, and up through the 
fountain that was playing in the Castle hall 
came the cutest little dwarf, dressed all in 
green, and shining as do the scales of a fish 
in the sunshine. He was a great favorite — 
as Ellen could see — for all the Fairies spoke 
to him, and the Princess said : 

“Welcome, Emerald. Here is an earth- 
girl, and I want you to make her a magic fan. 
i8 


THE MAGIC FAN 


Look at her and see the size it should be for 
her to wear about her neck on a gold chain as 
a charm. But please, dear Emerald, have it 
of the purest of sea diamond, and let every 
atom of it be enchanted by yourself, you dear 
little King of Emeraldland.” 

The little stranger disappeared after bowing 
to the company, and speaking some words to 
the Princess that Ellen could not understand. 

The Princess smiled at Ellen, and said; 

“You are wondering where Emeraldland 
is, and I wish I could tell you, but Earth-men 
have learned enough of its beauty to want to 
possess themselves of it, and henceforth we 
will help to protect Emerald King. But 
the wonders of that region I shall have you 
see sometime. Always are Earth-men seeking 
to reach the Emerald and the Ruby countries, 
but they have found only some outside 
boundaries, and the gnomes and dwarfs in all 
the world are on guard now preventing fur- 
ther discoveries. You may imagine how 
beautiful these countries are from the bits of 
stone taken from their borders and carried to 

19 


ATM A FAIRY STORIES 


Earthland. Your people prize these stones 
as precious jewels, yet the dwellers in those 
countries make palaces and pleasure boats of 
not only such stones, but of countless others 
that you have never seen, or known to exist. 
You and Rosemary may together visit all 
these lands sometime with my people. This 
favor will be granted you for the sakes of your 
mothers, both of whom knew my people when 
they were children and loved them. For this 
reason — at first — we cared for you two, and 
have kept watch over you always. Rosemary 
knows more than you do, Ellen, because her 
mother is now in the place you call Heaven, 
and she asks us to have her with us as much 
as possible. She can travel when she sleeps, 
and thus lives two existences at one and the 
same time.” 

“Do Fairies visit all children, I wonder?” 
thought Ellen. She did not speak, because 
she was too surprised at what she was 
seeing and hearing to know how to reply to 
what the Princess had been telling her. 

“No, indeed, Ellen. Fairies do not visit 


20 


THE MAGIC FAN 


all children. They cannot see or hear, or 
know where they are, for children — like their 
elders — live too much surrounded by black 
smoke for the Fairy messengers to find them. 
Sometimes a child will come out of this black- 
smoke region and do some white-light deed, 
such as saving a fellow-being, or helping a 
wounded animal, or feeding a hungry bird, 
and then the Fairies get a chance to run to 
them and show themselves for just a second. 
This makes such children very happy for a 
little while, but they forget it as soon as they 
go back into the black-smoke thoughts about 
them. Some children are visited by Fairies 
very often, and are blessed by them.” 

“How can a Fairy know which children 
they are to help?” Ellen ventured to ask. 

“Oh, the children pick themselves out all 
unconsciously from those about them by their 
daily acts. Whenever you have a compas- 
sionate thought for some one in sorrow, or do 
a generous deed for one less fortunate than 
yourself, or feel a thrill of love for your kind, 
then your soul rings out a chime of music, and 


21 


ATM A FAIRY STORIES 


all the bells in this country tingle in harmo- 
nious response. You are a girl who has been 
taught to consider others, and whenever you 
are trying to make some one happy you are 
told that you are their ‘good fairy.’ The 
Fairies know you as their foster-sister, and 
they all want you to love them, and thus to 
have the power to command them. They 
trust you, and in your service will learn as 
much from you as you obtain through their 
aid. What is the dearest desire of your heart 
at this moment, dear child?” 

Ellen’s eyes opened wide and she seemed 
to be seeing far away as she said in a sweet, 
modest way: 

“To make the village I live in, and the peo- 
ple who are in it, like Fairyland and the Fai- 
ries !” 

All the Fairies about the grounds of the 
Castle must have heard Ellen say this, for they 
sang and shouted in joyousness, and the bells 
and the musical instruments all over the Cas- 
tle began to play lovely airs at one and the 
same moment. 


22 


THE MAGIC FAN 


Then two Fairies came running toward her 
with baskets of the most glorious yellow roses 
that grew in Elfinland, and they threw them 
over Ellen until she looked like a rose-tree, 
and only her head could be seen above the yel- 
low mass about her. Showers of sweetest 
perfume fell like dew upon the roses, and El- 
len’s senses were entranced, and she saw as* 
Fairies see and felt as Fairies feel. Then the 
thought came to her that she wanted to live in 
this place and be free from the ugly world she 
had been dwelling in until now. 

Instantly the roses faded, the perfume was 
wafted away; languor succeeded exhilara- 
tion, and Ellen was again in her plain school 
dress, sitting in the presence of the Prin- 
cess. 

“Ah, child! You crushed your roses by 
wishing to avoid the responsibility that is upon 
you as an Earth-child, and you must learn the 
lesson of patient acceptance of your lot until 
you outgrow it through earnest effort. You 
do not quite comprehend me now, but you will 
remember all my words, and they will be clear 

23 


ATM A FAIRY STORIES 


to you in days to come. Your life with your 
mother has been a fairy one to her and 
your friends, and after you have — by constant 
goodness — made the little world about you 
better and happier — and planted seeds in the 
hearts of your fellow-beings that never will 
die — will you have the right to be in any part 
of God’s creation the instant you desire to go 
there. But now you must return to your 
home, be a child at school, and act as friend 
and protector to the helpless little animals that 
have too few friends to lose you, and, from 
time to time — by right use of your magic fan 
— you can come and see us here.” 

“Oh, may I come again, dear Princess?” 
And Ellen, in great excitement, looked eager- 
ly at the beautiful being who stood near her, 
smiling into her shining face. At that very 
instant the King of Emeraldland appeared 
and handed to the Princess a little fan, that 
was so tiny it was small enough for a doll to 
use. It was a most beautiful emerald, that 
had been cunningly carved to represent a 
graceful fan, and was so highly polished that 

24 


THE MAGIC FAN 

it was impossible for dust or anything to rest 
on it. 

The Princess looked at it and was pleased, 
for she offered her hand to the little King, and 
he took it in his, kissed it, and laid the lovely 
gift in it. The Princess and he then talked 
together, and afterward the fan slowly rose 
from her hand and was poised in the air above 
Ellen’s head. She clapped her hands, and all 
the Fairies came running toward her, and, see- 
ing the shining emerald, they saluted it with 

“Hail ! hail ! thou emerald charm ! 

Watch and guard, and safe from harm 
You will keep our Jasmine. 

Hail ! hail ! thou emerald fan ! 

Magicland you will command, 

Long as worn by Jasmine.” 

The little girl who had been near Ellen 
from the time she had entered the presence 
of the Princess now stepped forward and took 
from the hand of the latter a beautiful gold 
chain that another Fairy had been making for 
her, and which he completed just as the Fai- 
ries stopped their singing. The emerald fan 

25 


ATM A FAIRY STORIES 

was hung on the chain by the Princess, and 
Rosemary put it around Ellen’s neck and 
clasped it. Then she locked it with a little 
gold key and handed the key to the Princess. 
Ellen was speechless with happiness, and stood 
gazing at her. 

“Now, child, hold up your head and lift 
up your eyes to the bright sky above you, and 
repeat the words I say: ‘Oh, Fairy brothers 
and sisters, I accept this gift with a pure wish 
to use and not abuse the power it gives to me, 
and I promise that I will never ask for need- 
less service from any Fairy or mortal. But 
I will try to be kind and tolerant and sincere, 
abiding in love and dwelling in peace with 
every living creature. And may the Creator 
of us all give me strength to keep the Great 
Law.’ ” 

Ellen did as she was told and then sank to 
her knees overcome with emotion and, at the 
same time she lifted the little green trinket to 
her lips and kissed it reverently. 

No sooner had she done so than her whole 
being changed; her unshed tears dried them- 
26 


THE MAGIC FAN 


selves, her trembling lips parted, and a radiant 
smile overspread her face. She clapped her 
hands for joy, and sang as though inspired. 
She must have been inspired, for she had not 
before known the song she sang, and she 
could not have caused the birds to sing with 
her as they did, or the Fairies to shout the 
chorus at the end as though they had known 
it always. But perhaps they had. 

“Now, Ellen,” said the Princess, “the Em- 
erald King alone can grant the first wish you 
make with your magic fan. Think before 
you speak, and then, dear child, touch it and 
tell him your maiden fairy prayer.” 

Ellen made a low obeisance to both the 
Princess and the little King. 

“Always, dear Princess,” she said hesitat- 
ingly, “when my mother would ask me what 
gift I would rather have than all others if she 
were a Fairy and could grant it, I have an- 
swered: ‘I would rather have the power to 
possess the love of children and animals; to be 
known as friend to all things on earth, 
and stranger to none. I have desired to be 
27 


ATM A FAIRY STORIES 


pure, that I might be known by the pure; to 
be merciful, that the helpless and the weak 
should trust me. And, oh! I have wanted 
the magic gift by which I could understand 
and be understood by the wild creatures; by 
the birds and the creeping things that share 
life with us. I would love to talk with all 
these and have them tell me of themselves, 
for they seem not to understand us any bet- 
ter than we understand them. Could I but 
deserve and possess this wisdom, I believe I 
could do good in the world as I am passing 
through it.” 

“Granted!” cried the Emerald King. 
“And from this hour you shall be able to know 
and be known by your own kind, and shall 
have dominion over all things beneath you 
that you do not harm or oppress.” 

“Ah, Ellen!” said the Princess softly, “this 
means that your gift will not avail 
you much if you consent even passively to 
the killing of any bird or fowl or insect or 
animal for any selfish purpose whatsoever, 
and it binds you to protect their lives and 
28 


THE MAGIC FAN 


work for their preservation as though they 
were your own sisters and brothers.” 

“They are my sisters and brothers!” cried 
Ellen. “And I will keep my promise just as 
far as I know how.” 

“Then you are ready to realize the Great 
Law? You will truly do unto others as you 
pray they will do unto you?” 

“I will,” solemnly said the child, who was 
so inspired by her surroundings that she 
looked like a young prophetess. 

The whole assemblage began chanting 
soft, low music, and Ellen could feel her- 
self being lifted up and borne swiftly along 
on a bed of fragrant grasses, and grad- 
ually she grew so drowsy that she lost all sense 
of sight, and sound, and slept. 

It was four o’clock in the afternoon and 
Ellen still lay sleeping on the bench in the 
quiet place where she had first chosen to rest 
when she went out to the woods. A Rabbit 
had been playing hide and seek with his mate 
about her, and now, in his eagerness to make 
a quick race, he had jumped directly on her 
29 


ATM A FAIRY STORIES 


head and had awakened her instantly by so 
doing. She sat up, looked about her, won- 
dered how long she had been there, and slowly 
gathered her books while trying to think over 
the happenings at school that day. Gradual- 
ly she recalled that she had gone from 
school to take a walk at one o’clock, for the 
half-holiday began at noon, and that she had 
stayed in an hour. Where had she been those 
three succeeding hours? Dreaming, she 
thought, for her brain was so fresh and her 
heart was so light she felt sure she must have 
had happy dreams which had refreshed her 
body and her soul. Her first thought after 
this was of her mother, and she decided to 
hasten home and tell her of her lost lesson and 
her punishment that day. And as she reached 
this decision she took up her bag, intending 
to put the cord around her neck and carry it 
as she was accustomed to do. Then she 
thought of her untasted lunch and felt for it, 
but it was gone. 

“Oh,” she laughingly said to herself, “that 
little Rabbit got my lunch while I was asleep ! 

30 


THE MAGIC FAN 

Well, I am glad he did, and I hope he 
liked it.” 

As she adjusted the cord about her neck her 
hand touched something, and she quickly felt 
to see what it was. How surprised she was 
to find it was a bright gold chain, and, pull- 
ing at it, she discovered it was fastened about 
her neck. Then she drew it out as far as she 
could, and in so doing realized that it had a 
lovely little green ornament attached to it. 
This she felt, and rubbed her fingers over it. 
A Fairy stood before her. 

“What is your wish. Jasmine?” 

Ellen was too surprised to move or speak 
at first. 

“Speak, and I will obey. What do you de- 
sire, Jasmine?” 

“My name is Ellen,” she timidly replied. 

“Put your emerald fan at the back of 
your neck and hold it there a moment. Then 
you will remember.” 

Ellen did not know that the emerald orna- 
ment was a fan, but now she put her hand 
up and pulled out the chain so that she could 

31 


ATM A FAIRY STORIES 


see it plainly. She saw that it was a tiny fan 
which would open and shut if she wished; that 
every one of its several little sticks was 
carved all over with strange figures, and that 
when she closed it no one could have told that 
it could be opened. It looked as if it was a 
piece of solid emerald. 

Ellen held it close to her neck, at the base 
of the brain, and no sooner did she do this 
than she remembered everything. She re- 
called the Fairy’s face, and, looking at the 
little fellow before her, saw it was the same 
one who had taken her to see the Princess. 
He was pleased to note how glad she was to 
recognize him, and he uttered a pretty, 
musical laugh. 

“Now, Ellen, do you know why I call you 
Jasmine?” 

“It is my Fairy name.” 

“Yes, that is true, but there is a reason for 
you to be called Jasmine. It is this: All 
plants and minerals and animals are related 
and belong in families. You are in the floral 
kingdom a Jasmine flower, and hence that 

32 


THE MAGIC FAN 


name is more properly yours, because of its 
significance, than the one given you by your 
mother. To your Fairy friends you are al- 
ways Jasmine. And now it is time for you 
to go to your mother, and when you have told 
her of vour visit to the Princess and have 
shown her your magic fan as proof of it, then 
remember that whenever you want me and 
signal for me I shall come quickly to know 
your wishes.” 

H/L i/i 

Ellen sat in silence beside her mother after 
she had told her everything, and had shown 
her the lovely little gift that was fastened 
about her neck. The latter seemed much 
concerned, but asked very few questions. She 
knew much more about Fairies and the Elfin- 
land than she had ever told her child, and now 
she was considering what she should say 
about the changes that would come to Ellen’s 
life as the result of her visit to the Princess. 

“Mother,” she said, “I want you to help 
me make a list of the very poorest and most 
33 


ATM A FAIRY STORIES 

needy people we know of, and then we will 
ask for some one Christmas gift for each and 
all of them. Of course, we people on this 
earth ought to be kind to each other 
and take care of our own poor, but we 
know how Mrs. Sampson suffers from need 
of good things to wear and to eat, 
and we must see that she has wood and 
coal and plenty of food. Then we will ask 
for some warm clothing for her, and for old 
Mr. Ellis, too, for he has no one on this 
earth to comfort him. And when we have 
given all the grown-up people what they need 
so much, then we will ask for dolls and candy 
and toys for the children. I think that will 
be fine, and we will go out at night and carry 
these things to people and slip home again, 
and they will never, never think who gave 
them.” 

“And shall you not want a lot of pretty 
dresses for yourself, and a new house, and 
horses and carriage, and plenty of servants to 
wait upon you?” 

“Why, mother, what makes you talk like 

34 


THE MAGIC FAN 


that? You know I must ask for nothing self- 
ishly, and I do not want to trouble the Fairies 
except where I cannot serve others without 
their aid. We do love all the people we 
know, but we have not money to buy them 
Christmas presents. But now we can ask for 
everything we want for others, and If It Is 
best for them to have these gifts, they will be 
brought to us for them.” 

And Ellen’s mother helped her, and they 
made a long list, and they tried not to ask 
for one useless article. And Christmas Eve 
morning, bright and early — In fact, just after 
daylight — Ellen asked her mother to watch 
and see If her magic fan would help her to get 
all the things she would like to see others re- 
ceive as Christmas presents. Then she sat up 
In bed and gently rubbed the beautiful emer- 
ald fan that was on her neck. 

Immediately she and her mother heard a 
rustling In the room, as though a large bird 
had flown Into It, but they could see nothing. 
Then they heard a very soft and low voice 
say: 


35 


ATM A FAIRY STORIES 


“Jasmine, I am here to do your bidding, 
and I see what you want me to do.” 

“Oh, Fairy, can you take the paper with 
that list of things on it to the Princess and see 
if she thinks I have asked for too much?” 

“I need not take the paper itself. Jasmine, 
but all the thoughts that you have put on it I 
can take away with me, and I shall do so. 
You will know when you go into the other 
room if your wishes are granted.” 

Ellen wanted to get up at once and go into 
the sitting-room and wait there for the Fairy’s 
return, but her mother told her it was chilly, 
and was too early to begin the day even 
though it was the Christmas Eve. And then 
they talked together, and Ellen grew passive 
and submissive and said she would be satisfied 
with whatever the Fairy Princess did, no mat- 
ter what it was. And then she went to sleep 
and slept until breakfast-time. And when she 
awoke and remembered about the Fairy’s 
visit, she jumped out of bed and ran into the 
sitting-room. 

“Mother! Mother I” she shouted. “Come 

36 


THE MAGIC FAN 


quick, mother ! Oh, do come upstairs quick ! 
You never saw such a sight as is here.” 

And sure enough it was a sight that was 
presented to the proud and happy mother as 
she entered the door, for all over the room 
were articles of all sorts, and around about the 
floor were parcels of all kinds. And so many, 
many beautiful flowers lay on the table that 
Ellen ran to them and jumped up and down 
with delight. 

“Oh, isn’t it too good to be true!” she 
cried. 

“No, my child; it is good, and it is true.” 

“But where on earth did the Fairies get all 
these things, and how did they bring them, 
and how could they buy them, or make them ? 
I wish I knew !” 

“Be sure, my child, the Fairies have 
brought these things here during the night 
and not all in a moment, and many Fairies 
have co-operated in the task of collecting these 
many articles.” 

“Do you think they went into stores and 
took them, mother?” 


37 


ATM A FAIRY STORIES 


“Oh, Ellen, what an ignorant thought for 
you to have! Dismiss it quickly from your 
mind. Whatever things they get, and wher- 
ever they get them, they pay their equivalent 
as would you or any other honest person. 
There is so much money lying in the sea, and 
hidden in forgotten places on land, that they 
have but to go and get all the gold coins they 
require to pay for what they take. And there 
is so much of everything on this earth, that no 
one would be the poorer even if each human 
being should be supplied with every real neces- 
sity. You cannot make men and women be- 
lieve this, for it does not appeal to their selfish 
ideas. Yet it is what every one of us must un- 
derstand, if this world is to be better than it is 
and has been. So accept what is given you 
to distribute, and get ready to go at the work, 
for your list was a long one, and there are 
many steps for us both to take to-day.” 

All day and all the evening until bed- 
time this happy mother and child went about 
the village leaving parcels and packages, and 
sending fuel and food to various people, for 

38 


THE MAGIC FAN 


Ellen had found a purse of gold and silver 
money among the gifts, with which she 
bought these things. And they tried to de- 
liver everything without the knowledge of the 
recipients, and succeeded in keeping their 
friends from suspecting their sudden munifi- 
cence. 

And Ellen had the delight of knowing 
when she went home that she had left some- 
thing at the doors of all who needed aid, and 
had distributed nuts for the little folks in furs 
and feathers in the woods ; had sprinkled 
grain for the birds, had fed the horses and 
cows their presents of apples and sugar, and 
given all the dogs she had met a feast, and 
as well left food for all who were astray and 
might seek it in the night. 

And she was so tired when she finally went 
to bed that she forgot her prayers, or to say 
good-night to her mother, and she slept a 
dreamless sleep while the Fairies decked her 
home in beautiful Jasmine blossoms, and laid 
lovely gifts for her on chairs and tables, and 
put her mother’s gifts beside them. 

39 


ATM A FAIRY STORIES 


When Ellen was aroused by the church bells 
ringing the Christmas carol, and when she saw 
that the Fairies had been blessing her, she 
wept for joy. 

Her magic fan glittered with a brightness 
that no diamond ever had, and it but reflected 
the radiant light that was on her face. 

“Oh, mother!” she cried, “if only every 
one in this world had a Fairy for a friend as 
I have, what a beautiful world it would be 1” 

“Yes, Ellen. And if every one tried to be 
a Fairy in spirit to his fellow-beings as you 
are, how easy it would be to make a Fairyland 
of this sad old world 1 There is noth- 
ing that we could not be if we would but love 
each other and live unselfishly; if we would 
but obey the Great Law. Then, indeed, 
might our every need be supplied, and life be- 
come one long season of enchantment, spent 
in the service of Wisdom and blessed with the 
approval of our Creator.” 


40 


{From Moonlight Lullabies.) 

BABY DEAR. 


Baby dear, look up on high 
And watch the moon go sailing by; 
Silver boat with wings of white, 

To carry baby far to-night 

Into the land of dreams. 

Azure bridge that spans the skies 
From starlit space to baby’s eyes. 
Open wide your gates of light. 

Let baby travel far to-night 
Into the land of dreams. 

Baby dear, the lights are low. 
Sweet dreamland faces come and go; 
Broad outspread their arms of love 
To bear the baby far above- 
Into the land of dreams. 

Baby dear, good-night, good cheer; 
Bright ones protect you, have no fear. 
God, who guides the stars aright. 
Safe keep my child till morning light. 
Far in that land of dreams. 


41 



THE INVISIBLE ROBES 








THE INVISIBLE ROBES. 


It was early in the evening in the month of 
May. The sun had said “good-night” be- 
fore sinking to rest behind the western hills. 
The stars, one by one, were peeping from out 
their hiding-places, and were interested in 
watching three happy children who were skip- 
ping along a broad avenue of pine-trees that 
led to their home. 

By the wayside there was laurel, and the 
children had gathered great clusters of the 
delicate pink shell-like blossoms to carry home 
to their mother. 

Edward, the eldest, happened to look over 
his right shoulder, and discovered just above 
the western horizon the faint outline of the 
crescent moon. 

With a joyous shout he called to his sis- 
ter: 

“Oh, Alice, look! The moon, like a silver 
canoe, is bringing to us all our wishes. The 
45 


ATM A FAIRY STORIES 


children gazed long and earnestly at the beau- 
tiful, fairy-like boat, and wished that all good 
things might come to them. 

Little Arthur, the third child, was too bus- 
ily engaged running after a squirrel to pay 
any heed to the moon or the wishing; he was 
intent upon getting nearer to the graceful 
creature, but with every effort to do so the 
tiny animal darted away with renewed energy. 
At last, with a quick jerk of the head and a 
saucy flourish of the tail he vanished alto- 
gether. 

Arthur, in his eagerness to again catch sight 
of the pretty squirrel, pushed his way through 
the pine-trees and found himself in an open 
space near to an old shed that had been used 
by cattle as a place of shelter. 

Alice and Edward very soon discovered the 
absence of their small brother and quickly fol- 
lowed him. They were about to call when 
their attention was arrested by a low moan. 

“Hush ! What was that?” whispered both 
children at once. 

They looked in the direction of the sound, 

46 


THE INVISIBLE ROBES 


and there, leaning up against the side of the 
shed, was something that looked like a bun- 
dle of rags from which, every now and again, 
there issued a low, heart-breaking moan. 

Alice and Edward were very much fright- 
ened, but with a great desire to find out the 
cause of the moaning, they ventured nearer 
and discovered that what seemed to be a bun- 
dle of rags was in reality a young girl, about 
ten years of age. 

Her dress was dirty and ragged, several 
of her teeth were broken off, and her matted 
hair had bits of straw and grasses attached to 
it, which indicated that she had slept in the 
cowshed. 

The terrible appearance of the child but 
added to their fright, but Alice, who was 
more venturesome than Edward, drew a little 
nearer and saw that the poor girl had no 
hands. 

This was too much for tender-hearted Al- 
ice, and she rushed toward her with a heart 
full of sympathy. 

From the midst of all this poverty, unclean- 

47 


ATM A FAIRY STORIES 


liness and deformity there looked forth two 
wonderful gray eyes that fascinated the chil- 
dren and gradually allayed all their fears. 

“You poor, dear little girl! What is your 
name, and why are you here in this frightful 
condition?” asked Alice. “What can we do 
to help you ?” 

“My name,” replied the child, “is Mirror, 
and I am here because I love you. And if you 
really are sorry for me, smooth out my hair 
and fetch green leaves to bind my torn and 
bleeding feet.” 

Alice at once began the task of smoothing 
out the soiled and tangled hair, and Edward 
rushed away to gather the green leaves. 

Little Arthur, who all this time had been 
standing perfectly still, staring at the girl with 
his great blue eyes, said quite bluntly: 

“I’m afraid of you.” 

“If you are afraid of me,” replied Mirror, 
“I shall put you to sleep.” 

And with a wave-like movement of what 
would have been her hands if she had had 
any, she seemed to cast a spell over the little 
48 


THE INVISIBLE ROBES 


fellow, for he sank down upon the soft green 
grass and was soon fast asleep. 

With deft fingers Alice tenderly and pa- 
tiently separated each strand of the matted 
hair, and became so absorbed in the task that 
she forgot everything else. 

After a little her attention was attracted by 
a strange light, that seemed to appear and 
disappear in the direction of the girl’s lap. 
Alice watched intently for a few seconds, and 
what was her astonishment to see two beauti- 
fully moulded shadowy hands come forth 
from the ragged sleeves which a moment be- 
fore had been handless. 

With graceful movements the slender fin- 
gers wove silver threads in and out into an 
exquisite material, with here and there a wild 
rose — pink as the first blush of dawn — stand- 
ing out from the shining background. 

With wonder and amazement Alice stood 
spellbound, and then threw herself down at 
Mirror’s feet and watched the beautiful hands 
as they, with magical power, shaped the lovely 
texture into a garment. 

49 


ATM A FAIRY STORIES 


“Oh, how perfectly exquisite!” cried Alice. 
“For whom is this beautiful dress?” 

“For you,” replied Mirror. “And I will 
now make another for Edward,” who in the 
meantime had returned with his arms full of 
leaves and stood as in a dream, trying to com- 
prehend the situation. 

Silently and quickly another garment was 
woven, and then Mirror arose; but instead of 
the forlorn girl there stood before the en- 
tranced eyes of the children a radiant Fairy. 

She threw the beautiful robes over their 
heads, and with her wand touched each fore- 
head, saying: 

“Love and compassion are the warp and 
woof of the garments you wear. Invisible to 
all except to those who know and love the 
Fairies. Yours as long as your thoughts are 
pure and your hearts overflow with love and 
sympathy for all that breathes.” 

Alice and Edward looked up to thank the 
Fairy. But lo! she was gone. 

* >i! * * Jj: 

The twinkling stars and the crescent moon, 

50 


THE INVISIBLE ROBES 


the scattered leaves and the sleeping child, 
were the silent witnesses that an inhabitant 
from one of the unseen worlds had broken her 
way through the thin veil that separates us 
from them, and for some wise purpose had 
tested the hearts of two of the children of 
the earth. 

Alice and Edward awakened little Arthur, 
and the three children wended their way 
homeward. 

They ran to kiss their mother, who stood 
in the doorway. She looked earnestly at 
them and thanked them as she took the lau- 
rel, and smiled a “knowing smile,” for she 
recognized in the faint, opal-like light that 
radiated from the children the sign that her 
loved ones had received the invisible token of 
the Fairies. 

For she, too, knew and loved the Fairies! 


51 


{From Moonlight Lullabies.) 

THE SUN IS LOW. 


The sun is low in the west, 

The birds are safe in their nest. 

The day star sleeps, the night star peeps. 
The crescent moon silent watch keeps. 

Oh, hush thee, my baby, good-night ; 
Good-night, sweetheart, till the light 
From the east shall say to the shadows 
“Away! 

I' am King. Let the dark turn to-day.” 


52 


THE OPHIR GIFT 






THE OPHIR GIFT. 


If you follow the rainbow to where the 
city of gold lies, you will go to the Land of 
Ophir, a land so rich in precious things that 
you almost wish for some plain, sensible, 
every-day object upon which to rest your eyes. 

In that country they cannot get ordinary 
wood to burn, but have to use logs of cinna- 
mon, sandal-wood and other sweet-scented 
materials, so that a perpetual incense is in the 
air, and makes you feel as if you were in some 
great nature temple; and well it may, for the 
people are as rare as their beautiful yellow 
gold and dazzling, multi-colored gems. They 
are the wise ones of the earth. 

The people of Ophir are wise, because they 
do not look alone in the earth for their treas- 
ures, but into people’s minds and hearts, and 
they are always eagerly on the lookout for all 
the truly enlightened great souls who come to 
55 


ATM A FAIRY STORIES 


this world, and are usually the ones to know 
about it first, and send their greetings in show- 
ers of choice gifts. So, if any one receives a 
gift from the Land of Ophir, they may pretty 
well know that they have some important 
work to do for their fellow-men, and have 
been recognized by “Those Who Know” as a 
real blessing to this sorrowful star. 

These wise ones of Ophir are sometimes 
spoken of as “The Magi,” and we may as 
well call them that as anything else. They 
know how to read the stories in the 
picture-book of the sky, for the angels have 
written the history of the world up there on 
blue pages, with golden ink. Once in a while, 
if something very important is going to hap- 
pen that they have overlooked, an angel will 
cross the rainbow bridge and appear in their 
midst with a huge pointer of starlight and 
mark the place they did not read. But some- 
times “The Magi” peep ahead in the Book 
of the Sky and see things coming thousands 
of years before they are due. They have to 
do this for some very great occasions, in order 
S6 


THE OPHIR GIFT 


to have plenty of time to get their most ap- 
propriate gifts ready. 

Because King Solomon was wise, the Queen 
of Sheba was sent out of the Land of Ophir 
with gifts to him. And such a procession 
came with her! Camels, and elephants, and 
peacocks, and chariots. It was something like 
the circus we have to-day, only it was real in- 
stead of imitation. 

One of the most delightful things “The 
Magi” ever did was to institute the giving of 
presents at Christmas, and it came about in 
this way: One day, while reading the Book 
of the Sky, they saw that a little child was to 
come to the world, so good, so pure and so 
true that nobody could hear about him with- 
out wanting to be like him. The letters on 
the page that told this were so happy that they 
were dancing with joy, and they had a know- 
ing twinkle about them that seemed to say, 
“We know more than we tell.” Finally, one 
of them that looked like a shining star danced 
right out of its place in the page and said: 
“Get your gifts ready and follow me.” With 
57 


ATM A FAIRY STORIES 


that three of “The Magi,” with gold, frank- 
incense and myrrh, started out and followed 
the star straight to the city of Bethlehem. All 
the way along people would ask them, 
“Where are you going?” because it was no 
more customary then than now to start out 
and follow a star. Even the King of the 
country they came to sent for them and wanted 
to know what it was all about, but 
he had grown stupid from being wicked and 
selfish — and, although he did a great many 
blundering, evil things — to find this wonder- 
ful child of which “The Magi” told — he 
never did. 

He was a very bad old King, and bad peo- 
ple are always cowards at heart, for they have 
wronged so many people that nobody likes 
them, and they know they ought to be pun- 
ished every time they do wrong, and are al- 
ways afraid some one is going to do it. And 
surely some one will some day. This King — 
Herod, as he was called — felt in his heart how 
bad he was, and he was afraid when he heard 
of this wonder-child that his people would 

58 


THE OPHIR GIFT 


want him for King, so he began thinking how 
he could get him out of the way. But 
he did not know what kind of people he had 
to deal with in “The Magi.” They, of 
course, were used to talking with the angels, 
and this time they just met them in Dream- 
land and knew about the whole thing, so in- 
stead of telling King Herod where the child 
was, they did not go near him, and he never 
found out. 

The star guided “The Magi” to the child, 
and they found him surrounded by many 
things. It seemed as if every kingdom of the 
earth had sent an offering. His bed was made 
of dried sweet grass, I dare say with many 
a clover blossom in it. Some dear tame ani- 
mals were browsing about. “The Magi” came 
with their precious gold and gifts, and we 
know how the angels kept them all company. 
Everything in Heaven and earth had sent 
some kind of a representative, and the child 
seemed at home with them all. This was such 
a wonderful birthday the day the Christ-child 
came to us, and ever since we have called it 
59 


ATM A FAIRY STORIES 


Christmas, and Santa Claus brings us gifts 
every year when we are good, because he no- 
ticed how “The Magi” greeted the Great 
Goodness that came to us so long ago. This 
is really the way that Santa Claus got his idea, 
but his toy-store at the North Pole is not to 
be compared with the Land of Ophir. But 
it takes something more than the usual person 
to attract the attention of “The Magi” and 
have them bestow the Ophir gift. It only 
comes to those who are real kings and queens 
in their soul life. 


6o 


{From Moonlight Lullabies.) 

ROCK-A-BYE BABY. 


Rock-a-bye baby, the moon is in sight, 

And quaint little creatures in green and in 
white 

Are shouting and sporting with wildest de- 
light 

On hill-side and meadows, where daffodils 
bright 

Shine pale in the light of the moon. 

Nixies and pixies and brownies are there. 

And gay laughing Fairies with long golden 
hair; 

Shadowy children of earth-fire and air. 

All free as the wind, without sorrow or care. 
They dance in the light of the moon. 


6i 








MOON LAND 










MOON LAND. 


Did you ever start to do something and sud- 
denly feel that you had done the selfsame 
thing before? Did you ever find yourself 
waiting for some one to say something that 
you knew they would say, because you had a 
vague and dim memory that it was not the 
first time they had told it to you? If all this 
has happened to you, it is only because you 
have a shadowy remembrance of your doings 
in Moon Land. 

Every night when we go to sleep a part of 
us travels through Moon Land, and while we 
are there we make pictures of the things wc 
are going to do when we are awake. 

Night-times are busy times, for then we go 
to the dark side of the moon and develop 
the pictures of “that which is sure to come 
true.” 

It is a remarkable sight to see the way these 

65 


ATM A FAIRY STORIES 


pictures are taken. Of course, to take pic- 
tures one has to have sunlight, so that is done 
on the bright side of the moon. There, all 
over, you see little groups of people eagerly 
talking, planning and looking over beautiful- 
ly illustrated books. 

What books they are ! They have the most 
wonderful pictures that were ever made. 
They are called Fate’s pattern books, and 
show pictures of gods and heroes doing no- 
ble and kindly deeds. 

As the people look over them, they choose 
the pictures they like the best for models after 
which to mould their lives, and Fate is always 
near by, working to teach them how this may 
be accomplished. 

Fate is the lady that you probably have 
heard about as living in the moon. She has 
deep violet eyes and silvery hair, and spends 
most of her time spinning. She has a won- 
derful way with her of getting everybody to 
help, and you will always see, all through the 
night, plenty of people sitting and spinning 
with Fate; but they never spin until they have 
66 


MOON LAND 


had their pictures taken and put on record in 
her reference books. 

Fate has a great many little fairy-like 
creatures to help her, who collect the pic- 
tures for her reference books. These little 
fairy clerks and scribes are kept very busy 
writing lengthy descriptions under each pic- 
ture. They are the queerest-looking little fel- 
lows imaginable, wearing long, loose cloaks, 
college caps, and quill pens behind their ears. 
They have little inkstands hung from their 
necks that contain red ink that looks exactly 
like condensed flames, and with this ink they 
keep Fate’s records in letters of fire. 

A curious thing about the pictures that are 
taken in Moon Land is this, that they seldom 
turn out as one wishes or expects; in fact, 
quite the reverse. This is due to the effect 
that The Light of Truth has in their devel- 
oping. 

When you have looked at Fate’s pattern 
books and have chosen the style into which 
you wish to make yourself, it is time to see 
the photographer; and Fate’s photographer is 
67 


ATM A FAIRY STORIES 


no less a person than The Old Man in the 
Moon. He comes around, looks you over, 
gathers together the people with whom you 
wish to be taken, then sends for the scenery 
and costumes to fit the style you have chosen 
from the pattern book. 

When all is in readiness for the picture, 
“The Old Man in the Moon” calls out: 

“Time! Dress rehearsal, begin.” 

Then everybody begins to act the part they 
have chosen; all they say is taken down in a 
moon-phonograph, and “The Old Man in the 
Moon” takes one picture after another, not 
leaving out the slightest detail. This is why 
vague memories haunt us of having said and 
done things before. 

We often choose parts that do not suit us 
at all. That is because we cannot see our- 
selves in The Light of Truth; but “The Old 
Man in the Moon” can, and many a sly twin- 
kle comes into his eye as some scene that was 
intended to be very fine turns out a carica- 
ture. 

The other night a set of people wanted to 

68 


MOON LAND 


be photographed as the Greek gods, and 
when “The Old Man in the Moon” turned 
on The Light of Truth, you should have seen 
them ! 

One man had arms that hung away down 
to his feet. This came from a propensity, 
that he did not realize, to grab things for him- 
self. 

Another man’s legs were twice as long as 
they should have been, from always trying to 
get ahead of somebody, and his wife had a 
head as large as a pumpkin, from feeling that 
she knew more than anybody else. Their lit- 
tle boy, Jasper, you could hardly see 
at all, because he had been what they 
call spoiled. Everything that he thought he 
wanted had been heaped upon him to such an 
extent that he could not get room to grow, 
so he was no bigger than a tiny baby. You 
can easily conceive how that picture turned 
out. 

The Old Man in the Moon took the 
picture to Fate, and said: 

“Spin a web to knock off these arms and 

69 


ATM A FAIRY STORIES 


legs. Decrease the size of this head, and 
prevent the misdirected attentions of these 
parents from afflicting this undeveloped child. 
These people want to be like Greek gods. 
Just make a web strong enough to modify 
their actions and keep them in their proper 
places until they learn some respect for oth- 
ers.” 

“Very well,” said Fate. “Send them along, 
and I will put them to work on their own 
webs.” 

So up the steps of the alabaster palace 
of Fate they went and started to weave 
their webs, of starlight, moonshine and sun- 
beams. 

The webs looked like sheets of music. The 
moonshine formed the surface, the sunbeams 
the lines, and the star’s light came in dots 
and darts that made the notes. This was the 
tune they were to dance to through life, the 
part they were to play, the actions they would 
perform; and every now and then came a 
bar of iron to stop them before going on 
again. 


70 


MOON LAND 


We live out the webs we make with Fate, 
but some day, when we need these webs no 
longer, we shall leave Moon Land and follow 
The Light of Truth to its source. If any one 
asks you how this can be done, tell them to 
ask The Old, Old Man in the Moon. 


71 


{From Moonlight Lullabies.) 

BABY’S GOOD-NIGHT. 

Evening hush, and a moonlit sky, 

And a dear little song for thee. 
Baby’s smile and a mother’s sigh. 

And a good-night kiss for me. 

Good-night, my sweet one. 
Good-night, my dear one. 

The angels are hovering near 
To bear thee afar 
To a shining star 

Of light, where Love is peer. 

Evening hush, and a moonlit sky. 

And a dear little song for thee. 
Baby’s smile and a mother’s sigh, 

And a good-night kiss for me. 


72 


THE GARDEN OF JOY 




THE GARDEN OF JOY. 


Have you heard of the wonderful garden, 
Have you heard of the Garden of Joy, 
Where hearts never rust or harden. 

And bliss is without alloy? 

Have you heard of an age called golden. 
Have you heard of childhood’s might? 
Guileless and pure, in the olden 
It reigned, in that garden of light. 


Where the four corners of the earth meet, 
they are gathered up by Time and made by 
her into the Garden of Joy. There Time sits 
still, and cradles all creatures in her lap so 
that they never grow old, the winds are at 
peace, the sun and moon are at home, and 
everything smiles, so perfect is its content- 
ment. 

The stones beam until they become pre- 
cious, the animals love until they are tame, 
and the children, fairies and angels never tire, 
for the magic of that wonderful place makes 

75 


ATM A FAIRY STORIES 

work a pleasure, and keeps one always enter- 
tained. 

There, many and many a day could you see 
Alma riding a huge lion, with her dear fairy 
brother. Prince Priceless, mounted on a shag- 
gy brown bear, by her side, going to some 
merry-making in the Garden ; but the best of it 
all was, that everything anybody did, even 
going to merry-makings, amounted to some- 
thing. If you sang a song from the pure joy 
of living, when you had finished would ap- 
pear before you something that had been 
made by the magic of the song, and as Alma 
was most fond of dolls, she frequently sang 
one right into her arms. And wishes ! Why, 
wishes became true as soon as you thought 
them; and what times Alma did have with 
Prince Priceless in their wishing contests. 
These were like spelling matches, only better. 
You won the game when you wished into ex- 
istence the most beautiful thing, and there it 
would be for everybody in the Garden to en- 
joy. 

Alma never felt lonely in the Garden of 

76 


THE GARDEN OF JOY 


Joy, for everything could talk, and some one 
was always at hand to talk with. That is 
true the world over, but, unfortunately, away 
from the Garden one’s hearing becomes so 
different, and the song of the moat as it dances 
in the sunbeam, and all the stories that the 
flowers and birds are constantly telling, be- 
come quite lost. Alma would sit all day in 
the sunshine and listen to her great lion tell 
what made him so strong, and when she 
looked into the pure, clear eyes of Prince 
Priceless every question she could possibly 
think of would be answered by a little picture 
that changed with her every thought, and 
came just as a little girl’s picture comes in 
any eyes into which she looks. Only in the 
Garden she saw in the eyes of Prince Priceless 
not alone herself, but the story of the whole 
world. That was a story-book that was worth 
while, and kept her full of wonder and de- 
light. Long after, when she left the Garden 
and could see but her own reflection in peo- 
ple’s eyes, she felt very poor, indeed, and as 
if she had lost all that made life worth the 
living. 77 


ATM A FAIRY STORIES 


When Alma leaned on the heart of Prince 
Priceless she was rested for a thousand years, 
and felt the love of everybody in the world 
that knew how to love, for everybody knew 
in the Garden how hearts that can love beat 
time to some purpose and are tuned to the 
same pitch. 

It is beautiful to feel them coming to- 
gether on every beat, so that they all 
know one another and have no secrets. It 
makes you feel so much at home. As the day 
was long, Alma sang, loved and learned, and 
was quite happy. 

One day, while Alma and Prince Priceless, 
with their arms around each other, were wan- 
dering down an emerald path, roses bloom- 
ing and singing on either side, something ter- 
rible happened. Suddenly a beautiful Fairy 
came up to them that Prince Priceless had 
never seen before. Alma ran eagerly for- 
ward and, with outstretched arms, cried : 

“Maya, I am so glad to see you. Welcome 
to the Garden of Joy! Why have you never 
come to play with us before?” 

78 


THE GARDEN OF JOt 

“Nobody ever asked me, or even saw me, 
until you noticed me standing outside one 
day,” said Maya, as she skilfully tossed and 
played with a flaming red ball. When she 
said this Prince Priceless noticed a slightly 
wilful pout on her face, so he stood perfectly 
still to listen to her heart. And would you 
believe it I It was quite out of rhythm, hurry- 
ing along in a little rag-time movement of its 
own. This was unheard of in the Garden of 
Joy, so Prince Priceless moved close to Alma 
and tried to draw her away, but her eyes were 
fixed on the flaming red ball, and as Maya 
tossed it up she cried: “Do let me catch it!” 
With that she pushed Prince Priceless away 
and began playing ball with Maya, walking 
steadily backward, not realizing where she 
was going, only seeing Maya and her pretty 
ball. Maya kept walking on and on. Her 
ball looked like a flame, that was pushing 
Alma before it. It was as a line of fire that 
bound the two together and blinded Alma’s 
eyes. Poor Prince Priceless looked so sor- 
rowful, but Alma was absorbed in the game 
79 


ATM A FAIRY STORIES 


and heard nothing he said; she did not even 
see him. Finally Prince Priceless picked up 
a ray of shining light and drew a circle around 
Alma and Maya, saying in sad, sweet tones 
that came to them like an echo, for they were 
quite to the gate of the Garden by that time : 

“This is the ring ‘Pass Not.’ No more 
may you be as a sister to all that lives. You 
have lost sight of your Fairy brother, and with 
him all the Fairies vanish. You have used 
force to your Fairy brother. Henceforth the 
animals will be wild to you. You have put 
your heart out of time and tune, so suffer in 
your loneliness until your longing makes you 
listen for the songs of the angels.” 

This did not trouble Alma much at the 
time, for she was having plenty of fun; but 
all the same, she was walking farther and far- 
ther from the Garden, leaving poor Prince 
Priceless standing so lonely and sad at the 
gate. By and by, as she went farther away 
from the country of Light it began to grow 
dark. Alma had never seen the darkness be- 
fore, but she had heard people talk of it, and 
8o 


THE GARDEN OF JOY 

knew that to destroy it she had helped the 
Fairies cover the sun with light and sent him 
around the world. The Garden was always 
full of a beautiful great golden light that 
came from all the hearts throbbing together, 
but outside everything was strange and so dif- 
ferent. Alma began to cry, and tightly put 
her arms about Maya. She wanted to know 
what it all meant and looked for the answer 
in Maya’s eyes, but alas! it was not the same 
as with Prince Priceless. She only saw her- 
self. Her heart just yearned for Prince Price- 
less and she gave a great cry, “My Priceless, 
come to me!” Then she heard a faint voice 
coming to her from afar. “Dear Alma,” it 
said, “when you destroy that picture of your- 
self and see behind it the eyes of your Fairy 
brother, the ring ‘Pass Not’ will disappear, 
Maya will vanish, and you will find yourself 
in the Garden of Joy on the ‘Great Day Be 
With Us.’ ” 


{From Moonlight Lullabies.) 

THE CARES OF DAY. 


The cares of day 
Have passed away, 

The stars light up the sky. 

The Fairies play 
Across the way, 

In clover fields 
And new-mown hay. 

The sun is up. 

And the buttercup 

Lends a tiny golden bowl 
To catch the dew 
Of crystal hue. 

The pure white wine 
That Fairies sup. 

Then rest, my delight. 

The star-eyed night 

Guards baby asleep in her crib ; 
While Fairies are seen 
In shimmering sheen 
On tiptoe to steal 
A peep at the sight. 

82 


THE GOLDEN GRAPES 










THE GOLDEN GRAPES. 


Years ago, on a well-kept lawn surround- 
ing a stately mansion on one of the finest of 
our old southern plantations, a child was at 
play. 

Beyond the lawn as far as the eye could 
reach stretched a great green ocean, tipped 
with myriads of white-crested waves rippling 
in the sunlight. 

This rippling ocean was the cotton fields, 
in which were hundreds of black forms bob- 
bing up and down, busily engaged picking the 
white blossoms, keeping time as they worked 
to the low, sad melody of one of the real 
darkey plantation songs. 

As the plaintive music reached the ears of 
the child she ceased her play and stood per- 
fectly still, a tender expression stealing into 
the beautiful gray eyes as she watched one and 
another of her little black friends who, at this 

85 


ATM A FAIRY STORIES 


busy season, were helping to pick the cotton. 
Suddenly she said aloud: 

“I think I will go and see great-grand- 
mother!” 

Away she glided, more like a Fairy than an 
earth-born child. 

Presently she came to a vine-covered cot- 
tage, through an open window of which she 
could see a very old lady; so old that her nose 
and chin almost met, and if it had not been 
for the large, clear brown eyes, in which a 
heavenly light always shone, one might easily 
have imagined her to be a witch. 

The little girl flew through the opening and 
lighted, like a bird, in the lap of the very old 
lady. 

In the centre of the room stood a table 
upon which was a curious old plate filled with 
golden grapes. 

“Why, granny dear, where did the grapes 
come from?” 

“Never mind, my dear Laurel,” replied 
granny. “Just help yourself to some of 
them.” 


86 


THE GOLDEN GRAPES 

I 

Laurel ate a few, and a very strange thing 
happened ! It was just as though a little cur- 
tain had been lifted from before her eyes, and 
she looked into another world. 

Everything was changed. The trees and 
grass were no longer green, but transparent, 
and through them came a violet-tinted silvery 
light. 

This light was everywhere, and gave an 
appearance of moonshine. Yet there was no 
moon. 

All around her were flowers, such as she 
had never seen before. They looked like spir- 
its of the earth-flowers. So fragile were they 
that she almost feared to breathe lest they 
should fade away. 

Near by was a grapevine from which hung 
great clusters of the golden fruit just like that 
which she had seen and tasted in her grand- 
mother’s room. 

“Why,” cried Laurel, “there they are ! But 
how in the world did granny get them?” 

A silvery laugh attracted her attention. She 
looked, and there by her side was a Fairy. 

87 


ATM A FAIRY STORIES 


In the middle of her forehead was a star 
set with rare gems that sparkled and shed a 
radiant glory around her head; over her heart 
was a precious jewel like a diamond, that 
brightened the way before her; but the most 
curious thing about her was her eyes — they 
were large and brown and had a heavenly 
light in them, just like granny’s. 

“Is this Fairyland?” asked Laurel. 

“Yes; and I am the Fairy who looks 
through your grandmother’s eyes. Here my 
name is Crystal. The pure white juice of 
the golden grapes is the key that unlocks the 
door that opens into this world. Come with 
me.” 

And they followed the light that went 
straight from Crystal’s diamond heart, form- 
ing a shining path before them, until they 
came to a large garden, where many little peo- 
ple were singing and dancing. 

Crystal called one who was resting under 
a rose-bush, and said: 

“This is Love, the spirit of the rose. She 
will be with you always, breathing into your 
88 


THE GOLDEN GRAPES 


life a strength and sweetness that will go out 
to every living creature.” 

A white mist gathered slowly and silently, 
and when it cleared again Laurel found her- 
self in her grandmother’s lap. 

Was it a dream? 

Laurel never knew, but near her all through 
her life she was conscious of the presence of 
the Fairy. 


89 


{From Moonlight Lullabies.) 

THE DAY IS ENDED. 


Now the day is ended, 
Baby knees are bended, 
Tiny hands are clasped ; 
Rosy lips are whispering, 
Angel hosts are listening 
In the moonlight clear. 

Peace and good-will ever 
Follow me, and never 
Leave me all my days ; 
May the Master’s glory. 
Told in ancient story. 
Light me home to God. 


90 


PEARL’S GODFATHER 









PEARL’S GODFATHER. 


Pearl had cried until her eyes looked like 
two boiled gooseberries, so how could she see 
anything straight with them? Not that she 
wanted to see anything straight with them, 
for she did not. She wanted the whole world 
changed for her especial benefit, but it 
would not. Cook refused to let her bake be- 
cause it was Saturday. Brother would not 
let her have his ball, because he was going to 
play with the boys. Everything had gone 
wrong, and every one had thrown her off and 
back on herself, until she sat down quite apart, 
feeling very much injured, to try and devise 
some way of righting matters to her own sat- 
isfaction. 

“I think I shall go away and leave the 
whole thing, and never come back again. 
Then they will miss me and feel sorry.” 

“What shall I take with me?” she said to 
herself with a puzzled look. “One cannot 
93 


ATM A FAIRY STORIES 


carry all of one’s clothes. I might put on my 
best dress and coat, take that box of candy 
Uncle Jack brought, and oh I I almost forgot 
poor Adele Louise. I never could leave her.” 

In a few minutes everything was arranged 
and Pearl started out with her box of candy 
in one hand and Adele Louise, her dutiful 
child and only sympathetic friend, in the 
other. She walked along for some time, and 
then thought that it surely must be lunch 
time; so, setting Adele Louise up against a 
tree, she uncovered her box of candy and put 
the cover, with one candy in it, in her lap, 
keeping the box in her own. 

“Well, my dear,” said Pearl, “we do not 
lunch on candies every day in the week. Isn’t 
this cozy? Won’t they miss us, though I” 

After eating all the best candies. Pearl put 
the cover on the box to keep the remaining 
ones for supper. 

The stillness of noon had settled down on 
the day and Pearl felt drowsy. She remem- 
bered that she always took a nap after lunch- 
eon, and, as the grass was soft and inviting, 
94 


PEARVS GODFATHER 


she decided to take one right then and there. 
She lay down under the tree with Adele Lou- 
ise by her side, but as her eyes partly closed 
she was surprised to see a beautiful form bend- 
ing over her. It was a tall, slight young 
man, wearing a winged cap and slippers, and 
holding in his hand a curious winged staff. 

“Oh, I know who you are,” said Pearl. “I 
have seen your picture often enough when 
Uncle Jack has been reading to me stories 
about Mercury.” 

“Have you, indeed? I am afraid it was 
not quite my picture you saw. Mercury is the 
father of my race, as Adam is of yours, and 
I bear the same relationship to him that you 
do to Adam, and Mercury bore the same re- 
lationship to Adam that I bear to you. Now, 
who am I? There’s a conundrum for you.” 

“Well, I give it up. I never could guess 
riddles. Who are you?” 

“I’m your godfather — fairy one, of 
course.” 

“How very nice ! I never knew I had any.” 

“Why, of course you have. Every one has. 

95 


ATM A FAIRY STORIES 


Even poor old Adam had one, as you now 
know. But you do not know me as well as 
you should, and I was so afraid to-day that 
you intended to make me go away and leave 
you forever that I came right to you to find 
out what you meant by letting me suffer. You 
are really destroying and hurting yourself 
when you hurt me, so I beg of you not to do it 
any longer.” 

Pearl looked up pouting, and said : 

“I hate to be scolded, and I don’t under- 
stand one word you are talking about, any- 
way. What have I done to you. I’d like to 
know?” 

“You have driven me from my home, and 
I shall have to look for another if you do not 
help me to get back again.” 

“You needn’t think I’m going to believe 
that. Why, godfathers don’t ask you to do 
things for them. They do things for you — 
bring you presents and give you good times, 
and everything else,” panted Pearl, quite out 
of breath in trying to express her ideal of a 
god-parent. 


96 


PEARUS GODFATHER 


“Only to good people, my dear little friend. 
You know the Fairy godmother only came 
to Cinderella, not to her bad sisters. They 
had driven theirs from their homes. If I 
should give you a present, it would not be of 
the slightest use to you, any more than Cin- 
derella’s slipper was to her sisters. I only 
bestow Fairy gifts, and Fairy gifts have to 
really and truly belong to and fit those who 
deserve them.” 

“Please give me something to try,” said 
Pearl, for by this time she was really getting 
interested, “and then I’ll do anything you ask 
me to do.” 

“Really?” 

“Yes, indeed. I mean it.” 

“Well, then, it’s a bargain. But what I 
give you you won’t like at first.” 

Then he handed Pearl a beautiful-looking 
pie, and said, “Eat it.” It was all made of 
melted sugar and was so clear that it looked 
just like a looking-glass, so Pearl took a peep 
at herself and was horrified to see how home- 
ly she looked. Her eyes were red, her face 
97 


ATM A FAIRY STORIES 


was dirty where the dust had settled when she 
cried, and her lips twice their usual size from 
pouting. Of course, nobody likes to look 
like that, and particularly with a godfather 
looking on who has just given you a present 
of a very nice-looking pie; so it made her, if 
anything, a little bit crosser than before. She 
took a tiny nibble, but oh ! how it tasted — bit- 
ter — bitter was no name for it. It was worse 
than any medicine Pearl had ever taken. She 
made a wry face and was about to throw it 
away, when her new godfather stopped her 
with the words : 

“I said you would not like it. It will only 
taste sweet when you can see yourself in it 
as a beautiful little girl; then you will love to 
put her inside of you, and the pie will be as 
sweet as sugar. You must have heard of this 
kind of pie before. It is called humble pie, 
and really tastes unusually good when you 
know how to eat it. You know you have not 
treated any of us quite fair. I live in your 
heart. Some people call me ‘The Dwarf in 
the Heart.’ But your heart began to be so 
98 


PEARUS GODFATHER 


hard I had to get out. Instead of thinking 
how badly you were treated by cook and 
everybody at home, just remember how many 
things are done for you all the time. Just 
think how cook often lets you make little cakes 
when she is baking, and brother takes you out 
in his goat carriage. And, Pearl, think of 
how your dear mother is breaking her heart 
and worrying this very moment because she 
can’t find you.” 

All the time Pearl was listening she longed 
to be home again, and as each dear one was 
mentioned more and more love came into her 
face, till it fairly shone. She took her 
handkerchief and wiped away the dirt, and 
said: 

“I’m going home, and I’ll never be so fool- 
ish again.” 

“That’s the Pearl I love. Now your heart 
must be getting warm and soft again. But 
don’t forget the pie. It will taste better 
now.” 

This time when Pearl looked in the pie she 

cried: of C. 


99 


ATM A FAIRY STORIES 


“You dear thing! I must put you inside 
of me to take home to mother.” 

Every bite was better than the last, and al- 
though it tasted as good as the best candy, it 
was nourishing and did not hurt Pearl one 
bit. When she finished she felt unusually well 
and happy, but her godfather had disap- 
peared. That made her feel a little sad, but 
suddenly she heard a little voice, that sounded 
far away, saying: 

“Pearl! Pearl! Pearl!” 

Then she listened very hard, and it said : 

“I have gone back to your heart, but here- 
after you will always hear me when I speak, if 
you listen — remember, if you listen — and I 
shall bestow upon you many and many a Fairy 
gift whenever you can use one.” 

Pearl went home with a new light in her 
eyes, for the sweet taste of the pie and the 
knowledge of a new-found godfather made 
life very joyous for a loving little girl. 


100 


{From Moonlight Lullabies.) 

HUSHABY LULLABY. 


Hushaby lullaby on the tree high, 

In deeps of dark green and under blue sky 
The robin is breathing a low lullaby 
To her dear ones, her wee ones, who answer 
her cry 

With soft little notes of their own. 

Hushaby lullaby, swaying boughs green 
Are hiding from baby the moon’s silver sheen; 
But high above all her face may be seen 
In a palace of blue where Venus, the Queen, 
Shines forth with a grace of her own. 


lOI 


THE SILENT LADY 






THE SILENT LADY. 

Once there was a Lady who lived in a 
large city, and who went very often to the 
beautiful Park not far from it, to spend 
the long afternoons in a quiet nook, where 
there were many large old trees and a 
pretty river, but no regular paths, or seats 
for visitors. At the entrance to the Park 
nearest to this wild section was an old 
watchman who had been in charge of the 
Park forests ever since the city had owned 
them. He knew by looking at the people 
why they came to the Park, and he had many 
and many a time seen the Silent Lady, who 
was always alone, and who never went in any 
other direction than to the old deer paddock 
back in the woods, which had been long de- 
serted and was now overgrown with flowers 
in summer, and covered with nuts in the au- 
tumn. The squirrels knew the place well, 
for every season they gathered their winter’s 
105 


ATM A FAIRY STORIES 


supply there, and were protected in quiet se- 
curity because people were not allowed to 
go through it. The old watchman guarded the 
entrance to the woods carefully, and he would 
not have permitted the Silent Lady to go 
there had she not seemed to be so eager to get 
away from the crowds and to be alone. So he 
let her go into the forest, where was the Fairy 
Dell, and when she would return from a long 
stay there, he would look at her as though he 
wished to talk with her about it. 

They both had a secret, and it was the same, 
but the old man did not know that she was 
aware he saw the Fairies who lived in the old 
paddock enclosure, and that he was sometimes 
anxious lest she should learn that there were 
dwellers there not recognized by people gen- 
erally. He did know, however, that he could 
trust her, because she was gentle and had a 
low, sweet voice. What he never suspected 
about her was that she came to this out-of-the- 
way place because it was Elfinland, and for 
the reason that she and the wood Fairies were 
good friends and loved to be together. Near- 
io6 


THE SILENT LADY 


ly every time she went there they danced or 
played games for her, and she was happy to 
watch them and see how wonderfully strong 
and well these little mites of people were. She 
never thought of the wooded dell where she 
was now as an unused or a lonesome place, 
and was well aware that there were stretches 
of pretty little lawns behind shrubbery and 
large trees where the Fairies gathered for 
their merry-makings. 

This day she had not been watching the 
white pebbles in the bed of the flowing river 
very long before she realized that there were 
very many Fairies gathered in a crowd farther 
down the dell, and that something of great in- 
terest was happening to them. 

Boys and girls who doubt that there are 
Fairies simply because they do not see them 
should stop reading this story, and think for 
a moment how much they know there must 
be in this world that they never saw and never 
will see, and how little they understand about 
the things they do see every day. If you tell 
them about a zephyr, for instance, they will 
107 


ATM A FAIRY STORIES 


say they have never seen one. Yet they know 
there are zephyrs, and sometimes they feel 
them gently fanning their cheeks when they are 
at their play. And they will not believe that 
there are some people who can, by looking in 
the right direction at the right moment, see a 
young zephyr born, and by patient waiting 
may watch it grow larger and stronger until 
it is no longer a zephyr, but a breeze, and 
then a high wind, and from that a gale, and 
finally it may be seen to be so strong that it 
wildly and furiously rushes past the God of 
Day and away in whirlwind fashion to the 
mountain-tops, where it is generally so tired 
that it dies in the arm of some Storm King. 

Girls and boys very likely have never seen 
a cobweb born on the dewy grass, though they 
find them very often after they are full grown 
lying on twigs and leaves. And how many 
children are there who ever saw a rose 
tint itself pink or red as it was getting ready 
to appear in the morning for the first time be- 
fore the public? 

It is just as well, then, for children to ac- 
io8 


THE SILENT LADY 


cept the fact that there are people, and maybe 
they know some, who have upper eyes and in- 
ner ears, and who can see even the thoughts 
that are behind the tongues of others, and who 
have such power of hearing that if they 
listen at night they can tell when dreams go by. 

The Silent Lady was one of these, and if 
I had time I could tell you how she came to 
be so that she could sit perfectly still without 
twitching her fingers, or her feet, or swinging 
her arms, or moving her lips; and she could 
open and shut her eyes with such a slow mo- 
tion that they did not appear to wink at all. 
Her eyelashes were long, and the Fairies said 
they were tiny parasols to shade her soul-eyes, 
which were behind her large brown ones. 

One reason was that she was contented, and 
that she had control of her body, and what she 
wanted it to do she made it do. And this is 
the only way by which any one can learn to 
be a friend to the Fairies, or birds, or but- 
terflies, or the animals; for all these crea- 
tures are silent and are quick to see and hear 
and know, because they do not waste their 
109 


ATM A FAIRY STORIES 

strength in idle talking, or fault-finding, or 
selfishness of any kind. 

This day the Silent Lady was very still, be- 
cause she saw the Fairies were about in great 
numbers and she wanted to enjoy their pres- 
ence. A large butterfly that passed along, fly- 
ing slowly, rested himself on her shoulder, 
and does not know to this day that she was not 
a tree stump or a fence post put there just for 
his benefit. 

The Fairies loved their friend, and as soon 
as they saw her sitting behind the boulder sev- 
eral of them went hopping and skipping over 
the grass and stood before her. One of them 
said to her : 

“You are welcome to Elfinland, Silent 
Lady, and you must stay until we can come 
and dance for you. But now we are getting 
ready to do a painful duty, and you may not 
want to know about it.” 

The Silent Lady, for that is what we must 
call her all through this story, because that is 
her name in Elfinland, smiled just a little at 
the green and gold clad figure before her, and 


no 


THE SILENT LADY 


made him just enough of a nod to let him 
know she heard what he said and wished to 
have him understand that she thanked him for 
his kindness. 

They all curtsied low at this and went back 
to where the little folk were gathering to- 
gether. Now this place where the Fairy crowd 
met was a pretty lawn, not large, but just as 
smooth and green as moss, and it shone 
as bright as emeralds and glistened like pearls 
and diamonds. Why shouldn’t it, when the 
Fairies had taken the trouble to get a beau- 
tiful spider’s web and spread it like a smooth 
carpet over the grass. Then they had gone 
flying off to the God of Day and asked for a 
sunbeam that they could spread over the spi- 
der’s web, and why should not the grass, 
seen through these, look like an emerald stud- 
ded over with pearl drops and diamonds? 

And now the grown-up Fairies were seat- 
ing themselves in a circle, and the dainty 
officers who had charge of the meeting led 
the tiny little children off to a pretty 
enclosure, where they played Elfin games 


III 


ATM A FAIRY STORIES 


all the afternoon. The business in hand 
was of too serious a nature for the 
grown-up Fairies to be disturbed while they 
considered the case, and then weighed out 
judgment after a fashion all their own. The 
culprit, who stood in the centre of the circle, 
with two Fairies guarding him, was dressed 
in yellow and corn-colored blue, and this was 
what made the Silent Lady know that it was 
a young lad of a Fairy. Just now his shoul- 
der fans, which Fairies use to hop and jump 
with and to fly over water, were drooping 
painfully. He had done some real mischief, 
or this would not have happened. And when 
the Silent Lady saw that the hands and feet 
of the little fellow were tied with long blades 
of grass, then she was sure that in some way 
he had been very naughty. 

The Judge sat in the Elfin judgment seat, 
which was in front of the culprit, and the Jury 
were near to him. The advocates of the pris- 
oner and of the law talked to one another, but 
there was no excitement, and it was 
plain to see that every Fairy in the large 


I 12 


THE SILENT LADY 


circle loved the little blue and yellow clad 
mite, and were there to cheer and console 
him. 

First one Fairy and then another told what 
they thought about the Fairy’s misconduct. 
The Silent Lady could not hear all they were 
talking about, and she was too polite to show 
any curiosity by opening her inner ears. She 
was in Elfinland and felt herself to be a guest 
of the Fairies, and she wanted to know only 
so much as they wanted to tell her. 

What a great lot of trouble would be missed 
by us all if we could be like the Silent 
Lady! But, then, if we were so wise we 
would know as much as she and there would 
be no reason for Fairy stories to be told, and 
you would not be hearing of the happenings of 
that day in the Fairies’ Dell. 

Soon the Silent Lady saw that the trial was 
over; that the Judge and Jury were through 
with the case, and that the prisoner was not 
set free. The two Fairies who had charge of 
him led him off and blindfolded him with 
Fairy-bell-flowers. Then they seated him on 

113 


ATM A FAIRY STORIES 


a little bark boat not as large as a saucer, and 
left him alone near the river bank. 

“This is the very first time I ever heard of 
Fairies committing murder,’’ thought the Si- 
lent Lady, and she was fast losing her faith 
in them, when one of the little guards, who 
carried his wand, ran to her, touched his sea- 
green helmet, which was as light as a gossa- 
mer’s wing, and said, as though he had heard 
her think : 

“Oh, Lady, you are wrong. Listen to me. 
The Court found Rune guilty of teasing a 
horse that was quietly sleeping, while har- 
nessed with its mate to a wagon. The master 
was away, and the horses were dozing after 
their noonday meal. The Fairy saw them as 
he was passing through that part of the coun- 
try where they had been ploughing, and, with- 
out thinking, he ran up and tickled the 
oldest horse’s nose with a grass spear. The 
spear of grass was very small, and at first it 
did not awaken the tired animal; but the tick- 
ling was kept up by the mischief-doer until 
the horse, half-awake, tried to shake it off, 
114 


THE SILENT LADY 


and then, feeling it again, grew restless and 
kicked his mate, causing the latter much pain. 
Now the Judge said that this was more than 
just mischief; it was wanton mischief; and, 
being such, was unbecoming a Fairy. He 
said, and the Jury voted, that Rune was 
thoughtless; that thoughtlessness is next to 
cruelty, and, being young and ignorant, his 
fault must now be impressed upon him, its 
consequences pointed out to him and a suit- 
able punishment be accorded him. The ver- 
dict was that he was to be put on a bark boat, 
be pushed out on the river, and then left there 
to get back to the shore by his own efforts.” 

“How can he save himself when both his 
legs and his arms are tied?” said the Silent 
Lady. 

“Oh, Lady, how can you form and hold 
such a thought of us ! The blood of nothing 
that lives is shed by Fairies. Rune’s hands 
and feet are tied so lightly that with the force 
of a thought he can break the bands. His 
pinions are down, his hands and feet are tied, 
and his voice is hushed because he is realizing 

115 


ATM A FAIRY STORIES 


his selfish thoughtlessness, and these are but 
the outward symbols of disorder. When he 
has repented he will make an effort to return.” 

“An even chance is what I thought Fairies 
granted, and I was sad when I feared you 
were going to be unjust to one of your own.” 

“An even chance he will have. Lady. If 
he makes no effort, he will drift safely to the 
Cove, where the Elves watch over Sundown 
Curve, and they will keep him and return him 
to us for another trial and more discipline. 
If he really wants to hasten back to his loved 
ones, he can do so by making an effort. All 
that he has to do is to command the water 
currents to send his bark to the shore. If he 
has repented, and is all a Fairy again, he will 
control them; but nothing obeys a Fairy while 
he himself is not obeying the higher laws of 
his being. Should he prefer to drift for 
awhile, he can do so, and when he meets a 
water witch he can come back on her back.” 

“Suppose,” answered the Silent Lady, “that 
the water witch does not choose to obey the 
Fairy, and suppose also that he makes a pris- 
1 16 


THE SILENT LADY 


oner of poor little lonesome Rune ! Think of 
his misery !” 

“But,” cried the patient Fairy, “we are 
greater than water witches. Surely you know. 
Lady, that no creature on earth can command 
a Fairy or harm it. Not even you can harm 
us, and you see us and know us, and can go 
in and out of Elfinland as you wish. Shall 
I tell you why we are so? We have never 
violated a command of God. As we have not 
killed, we have greater nature powers than 
man, while all things below man obey us. 
In the deep forests. Lady, where lions and 
tigers roar, and awful-looking elephants, big 
as the moon, frighten even the birds, the 
Fairy’s wand is obeyed the moment the sign 
of command is given. Until they see the 
wand flash light as the Fairy strikes the 
ground with it, they do not know that Fairies 
are around them. For we are visible or in- 
visible according to the condition of the crea- 
tures before us, and we have dominion over 
all that move or walk or swim in the world 
below man.” 

117 


ATM A FAIRY STORIES 


Then nothing, not even wild animals, have 
killed Fairies?” 

“Oh, dear, no ! Our realm is Enchantment, 
and we will never have to leave it so long as 
we do not abuse a single gift that God has 
given us. In our realm we have greater 
powers than has man in his. We are the only 
creatures on the earth that live without sor- 
rows. We are a little people, but are a 
contented one. We dance on the green by 
moonlight, and ride on clouds when they trail 
banner-like along the mountain’s side. We 
joy that we live, and live to make joy for all 
creatures.” 

“And do you do nothing but enjoy your 
wild freedom? Do you toil not nor spin?” 

“Not in the way that man does. We are 
first of all content — that makes us Fairies; we 
live as Nature designed us to live, and, being 
Nature-children, we have many magical sup- 
plies of all sorts for our use and comfort.” 

“And you make no return for God’s good- 
ness to you. Fairy?” 

“Dear Lady, we do nothing but praise God 

ii8 


THE SILENT LADY 


and serve Him. All the time — for we have 
not anything but Love in our souls — we are 
always going about doing good, or returning 
thanks that we have been permitted to do 
good. We make flowers to bloom, fruit to 
grow, streams to fill up and run; we aid the 
weak, support the feeble, cure the sick, save, 
serve and strengthen all and everything about 
us. We make the world beautiful with flow- 
ers and green trees, and the fruit we paint with 
our magic brushes, so that man may feed his 
soul with beauty while he eats to make his 
body strong.” 

“Thank you, little friend, for all you tell 
me. I love to hear you, that you know. But I 
am thinking of Rune and feeling so sorry for 
him. Will you tell me about him?” 

“You weaken yourself by so doing, and you 
would be casting mildew on his spirit if your 
mouldy thoughts could touch him. He is lack- 
ing in certain traits to which he must grow 
to be a complete Fairy. He made the oppor- 
tunity for his lesson to be given him, and now, 
if it were not given, we would be guilty. 

119 


ATM A FAIRY STORIES 


When the first moon-bell strikes he will be 
floated out on the water. If he has enough 
desire, he will come back instantly; if he is 
indifferent, he will drift. Should he be afraid, 
the hen fish will dash the water about him 
and the frogs will tease him, and he will 
sail on and on until his will is great enough to 
control his body.” 

“How much punishment you are giving him 
for such a small offence!” 

“Lady, you must not think he is being pun- 
ished; he is going to school to learn strength. 
We have no other teacher than experience 
(you in your world have none better. Lady), 
and he will learn wisdom quickly and be happy 
so soon as he tests his own soul.” 

“Will you tell me of his trip when he comes 
back safely?” 

“If you will come to the Dell, or stay here 
until the first light of the moon is on the 
green, you will see Rune, for he wants to learn 
the new Fay dance, and his will will be apt 
to work magic for him; that’s what wills are 
given us all for, you know.” 


120 


THE SILENT LADY 


“I wish I could see the dance, Elfin, but I 
cannot stay here when night has come ; but an- 
other time I will be with you. Will you not 
tell me who teaches you new dances?” 

“Why, the Queen of the Fairy Dell, here 
in Elfinland, to be sure! If you will stay, I 
will get you a magic wand, and then you can 
see into the hearts of the Fairies, as now you 
do into their abodes. The Queen brings the 
baby Fairies from the messenger mists, and 
she has been to see if the Mountain Sprites 
have any more for her to-day. If she has, 
you may watch her take them from her bas- 
kets and give each of us a new Fairy to love 
and to teach. Afterward she shows us a new 
dance and we dance it.” 

Just then tiny little bells sent out low, sweet 
music over all the space about them, and the 
happy Fairy said: 

“The Queen is home now, and we must all 
welcome her back to her court. But you will 
come again and Rune shall tell you of his pun- 
ishment and what it brought him in the way 
of a larger knowledge. And now let me cast 


I2I 


ATM A FAIRY STORIES 


the spell of sweet remembrance of Elfinland 
upon you.” 

And saying this, he tripped toward her and 
held his magic wand before her, then ran 
around her several times waving it gleefully, 
as did a number of other Fairies who joined 
him when they saw that he was serving the 
Silent Lady. Finally they made pretty little 
courtesies and then tripped away singing their 
sweet song, 

“We hear the bells of Elfinland.” 

And it was pretty, and the bells made such 
wonderful music that the Silent Lady was very 
happy. She felt the peace and harmony 
of the place, and her spirit came and looked 
out through her eyes on the scene and smiled. 
That was the reason that there was a lovely 
light on her face as she walked back to the 
entrance gate. 

The old watchman had been expecting her 
coming for some time, for it was getting late 
and the daylight was falling behind the hills. 
But he saw that she had a Fairy mantle about 


122 


THE SILENT LADY 

her shoulders (which the little elfs had 
thrown about her without telling her) and 
that far-away look in her eyes that only comes 
to people who go into the realm of Enchant- 
ment, and he was not the least surprised to 
have her softly say to him: 

“I have seen the Fairies.” 

And he was so pleased that she spoke to 
him that he looked up at the sky above him, 
and a Fairy who was close by heard him say, 

“God bless her!” 

But the Silent Lady did not hear him, for 
she had passed out of the gate and was gone 
into the shadows of the twilight. 


123 


A FAIRY TALE. 

The Fairies weave the darkness into a cov- 
erlet, 

And with dainty little fingers place it o’er my 
pet. 

They curtain him with shadows to hide him 
safe away 

From harm and care and trouble until the 
dawn of day. 

Sometimes they steal the baby off to Fairyland, 

And with mimic drum and trumpet march the 
tiny band 

Into the land of magic, where every wish is 
real. 

And sugar plums in plenty help make the place 
ideal. 

They bring him back at daybreak behind an 
azure veil. 

With his lips all stained with cherries, that tell 
a pretty tale. 

Of elfin fun and frolic on far-off hills and 
creeks ; 

They bring him back at morning with roses 
on his cheeks. 

124 


MAG’S FLOWERS 








MAG’S FLOWERS. 


Once upon a time there was a Fairy get- 
ting ready to become a human being, and the 
way she did it was to help mortals until she 
was worthy of a soul. 

Now and then, when people caught a 
glimpse of her, which they seldom did, for 
she nearly always wore her magic cloak of in- 
visibility, it would be in a deep shady dell, 
or a sun-flecked wood on its border, so every- 
body began to say that Mag lived in the dell, 
but she did no such thing. She lived, as most 
Fairies do, in Fairyland, and only came 
through to this world by way of the dell, be- 
cause the wall that divides Fairyland from 
us was a little thinner at that point — so thin, 
in fact, that a door had been made which 
opened easily, and Mag came in and out with- 
out any trouble. 

Mag’s great delight and chief occupation 
in Fairyland was to tend her garden. She 
127 


ATM A FAIRY STORIES 


worked in it every minute she could spare, and 
well she might, for it was no ordinary gar- 
den. Each plant was more than a plant. It 
represented a human soul — a real person — 
out here in this workaday world of ours, that 
Mag was doing for and helping, and it de- 
pended on how she cared for them whether 
or no she would win her soul. Mag did not 
know this, because if she had it would have 
broken the charm. 

She had to learn how to love without think- 
ing of herself at all — only the beauty and 
growth of her flowers — but all the time she 
was loving them, unbeknown to herself, was 
growing within her a soul. 

How Mag did work in her garden! get- 
ting up early in the morning before the sun 
was out of bed to water the plants and cover 
the tiny slips, that could not quite stand alone 
as yet against his scorching caress and the 
wind’s chilly breath; but she did it all for 
pure love of her beautiful roses, lilies, jon- 
quils and sweet-scented things. She took 
such good care of them that they never faded 
128 


MAGS FLOWERS 


the year round, and you could not tell whether 
it was spring, summer, autumn or winter, for 
flowers were there that belonged at all those 
times. You would see the most delicate 
anemone, roses and holly all massed together 
in a blaze of glory. 

To understand fully how Mag made her 
garden, you will have to become acquainted 
with a strange fact, of which very few 
even dream — that is, that people’s heads all 
reach into Fairyland, but in most cases it is 
only the very top that gets through. It is 
rare that the eyes look upon it, else we would 
know what goes on there and feel better 
friends with the Fairies than we do. 

The most of our heads, I am sorry to say, 
look pretty empty in Fairyland, but that is 
just the way a flower-pot should be, so what 
did Mag do but take them for her flower- 
pots and proceed to fill them up. Every 
empty head that came through into her gar- 
den immediately had a dear little slip put into 
it that some day grew into a strong, beautiful 
plant whose blossoms did many wonderful 
129 


ATM A FAIRY STORIES 


things. Some breathed a fragrance so un- 
earthly that it reached even to the hearts of 
people, and then they said, “That person is 
full of sympathy.” Others formed gorgeous 
blooms that broke into song through people’s 
lips, and works of art from their hands. It 
was no telling where Mag’s flowers would 
break into bloom through people — almost any 
part of them. 

Mag knew each and every flower by 
its own particular name. By that I do not 
mean that she called a rose a rose, but maybe 
Ruth Darling, or Donald Ferguson, and when 
she would come on her trips to the out- 
side world it would be to see from without 
as well as within one of her plants in full 
bloom. Then she would say “Good-by,” 
for her nursling had outgrown her care and 
was ready to be planted in the larger Gar- 
den of the Gods. 

At such times Mag would feel sad, for 
she knew her pet would be transplanted be- 
yond her sight, and she would go and sit down 
under a rose-bush and wonder and wonder 
130 


MAGS FLOWERS 


where it was going, as a glorious creature, 
with a little more of sunlight on its wings than 
Fairies know, came to carry it away. 

Thus sat Mag one day, on returning from 
a trip to the outer world after seeing a par- 
ticularly rich bloom. When the one with the 
shining wings came to take it away Mag 
made bold and walked up to the presence and 
said : 

“The wish of my heart is to reach the Great 
Beyond and be with those I have tended.” 

The angel answered: 

“Mag, your wish is granted. And may an- 
other Fairy tend your garden as faithfully as 
you have done.” 

At dawn in the palace of a great King a 
baby daughter was born. As the Queen 
looked into her eyes — that seemed like real 
violets — she said: 

“I have such a strange desire to call her 
Margaret.” 

The little Princess in after years told many 

131 


ATM A FAIRY STORIES 


stories of Fairyland, and one of them was 
about a garden of wonderful flowers, in one 
corner of which was a clump of violets, ready 
for a flower-pot long years before it was ready 
for them. 


132 


WHAT THE ROBIN TOLD SHIRLEY. 


“Robin ! Robin ! what are you doing 
In that tree top up so high?” 

“Singing to the merry children 
As they to school go by.” 

“Robin! Robin! how can you carol, 
When you must be cold up there?” 

“I am clad in warmest garment, 

And my food is everywhere.” 

“Robin! Robin! who taught you music — 
Made your voice so ringing clear?” 

“Clear’s my voice because I’m happy. 
And, you know, I have no fear.” 

“Robin ! Robin ! who guides your travels 
As you fly the air above?” 

“What a question. School-girl Shirley, 
When you know that God is Love. 

“He’s our Teacher and Preserver, 

Tell your playmates as you go. 

If they ask you where you heard it. 

Say a Robin told you so.” 

133 






WHAT HAPPENED TO MARLY 









WHAT HAPPENED TO MARLY. 


Marly was a little boy who came to this 
world by the way of France, for that was the 
first station at which he stopped as a tiny baby 
on his journey through life. 

Although his parents had everything that 
most people desire to make life happy, they 
did not succeed in doing this for their little 
son, whom they sent away into the country to 
be brought up by a foster-mother. 

Now Marly was a little boy full of a long- 
ing to know things, and with a great big heart 
eager to love people, and he led a very lonely 
life of it with those who thought they did all 
they could for him when they gave him 
enough to eat, kept him neatly dressed and 
saw that he went to sleep at the proper time. 
Indeed, all this is very essential to the com- 
fort of little boys, but it does not keep their 
hearts from aching, or fill up the long, long 
hours that drag through the lonely days. 

137 


ATM A FAIRY STORIES 


So this was the state of affairs with Marly 
at the time his life turned into a story — such 
a rich, full, beautiful story! And you can 
well imagine that storyland was somewhat of 
an improvement on the way he had been liv- 
ing. 

One night as he lay in his little bed hun- 
gering and longing for something, he hardly 
knew what, his serious brown eyes opened 
wide to the night, eagerly trying to pierce the 
darkness. Suddenly, as if a curtain had been 
lifted, everything became light; the walls of 
the room seemed to melt away and, although 
he felt quite sure that he was in his own little 
bed, yet he seemed to feel the possibility of 
getting anywhere he wished and knowing 
anything he wanted. 

He felt a marvellous lightness at first; he 
thought it was the bed that was being lifted 
up from the floor, but after a little he realized 
it was he who was moving toward the win- 
dow, and just outside, as if waiting for him to 
come, floated the figure of a glorious youth, 
who took poor little forlorn Marly in his arms 

138 


WHAT HAPPENED TO MARLY 


and looked at him with eyes full of all the 
kinds of love that come from your father, 
mother, sisters and brothers — such a wealth 
of affection as Marly had never felt before. 
It warmed him through and through. 

“Well, little brother,” said the Radiant 
Youth — for that is what we shall call him — 
“what would you most like to know about?” 

“I would like to know about homes,” an- 
swered Marly, “where little boys have real 
mothers and fathers who take care of them 
themselves, and I should like to see what my 
mother and father and big brothers are doing 
to-night.” 

“Well said, my little man; but real homes 
are not so easy to find as they should be. We 
will start for the city and see what we can do.” 

What seemed like “at once” brought them 
to a large city full of brilliant lights and daz- 
zling reflections. The great city of Marseilles 
was below them, its streets like a network of 
veins filled with seething masses of people. 
They entered one of the illuminated houses, 
where it appeared as if some of the throng 

139 


ATM A FAIRY STORIES 


had for some reason been caught, such a jam 
presented itself. You could hardly wend your 
way through the crowd of beautifully gowned 
women and distinguished-looking men. This 
was Marly’s home, and all those people were 
assembled to attend the largest ball of the sea- 
son. There was his mother, a delicate-look- 
ing woman, who appeared as if she were liv- 
ing in a dream and could not quite arouse her- 
self enough to wake up and throw it off ; and 
there were his father and brothers laughing 
and chatting and flitting about, talking first 
with this one and then with that. His mother 
did not look quite happy. She seemed absent- 
minded, and he could feel that it cost her some 
effort to greet so many different people in that 
kindly, gracious way. 

Marly ran and threw his arms about her 
and whispered: 

“Mother dear, in all this gay crowd here 
is one who really cares — ^your own little 
Marly.” 

“What is it?” 

She could neither see nor hear him, for 
140 


WHAT HAPPENED TO MARLY 


Marly was in his dream-body and she was in 
her day-body, but a smile stole over her beau- 
tiful face, and she said to an army officer who 
stood near-by: 

“My thoughts are with my little son Marly, 
and they fill me with love.” 

“Why, then,” said Marly to the Radiant 
Youth, “does she not keep me with her?” 

“Because, my child, she is the victim of a 
soulless routine — a social life which the posi- 
tion of your father and brothers imposes upon 
her. But she will be released before long. 
Now, my child, you have been to a real home, 
for you have lived for a moment in the love 
of your mother; and you have also been to 
a mock home, for you have felt and seen the 
conditions that keep the place in which she 
lives from being a home and prevent her from 
expressing her true feelings. Before we go 
away I want you to notice a picture of your 
grandfather that is in the library, along with 
many of the books the dear old gentleman 
loved. We shall come here often and study 
his books together, for you are the only one 
141 


ATM A FAIRY STORIES 


ill the family who could be interested in them. 
They are all about dream-bodies, such as we 
are using to go about in to-night, and many 
more wonderful things, and they have not been 
looked into since the old gentleman died. 
You are a child after your grandfather’s 
heart, and from this time you will never feel 
sad or lonely again, for every night I shall go 
for you and we shall make our way to this dear 
old library; and, although your mother may 
never realize you have been in the house, she 
will feel your love and influence and be much 
comforted. You will be her little guardian 
angel.” 

Night after night Marly and the Radiant 
Youth haunted the library, and learned many 
wonderful things that people could do if they 
only knew about them. Their mission of love 
did not stop with Marly’s mother. They 
sought out many poor, lonely, homesick souls 
in the vast city, and, putting their invisible 
arms around them, loved them into happiness 
and cheerfulness without their ever knowing 
why. 


142 


WHAT HAPPENED TO MARLY 


The life with the Radiant Youth became 
so real to Marly that he longed for night to 
come. He accepted everything that came 
without question, and felt very grateful — so 
grateful that he showed it by beaming on 
everybody he knew. 

Often he wished he might meet the Radi- 
ant Youth in the daytime when he was out 
walking, and he would sit for hours at the 
window watching for him. When he told 
this the Youth would say: 

“The time has not come yet, but it will.’’ 

One night they started as usual for the li- 
brary, and when they reached it they found 
the house full of confusion and every one run- 
ning wildly about. 

That night the Radiant Youth looked a 
shade more serious than usual, and led Marly 
to his mother’s room. She lay on her bed, 
looking very wan and ill. Several physicians 
and nurses were in the room with his father 
and brothers. 

“If I could but see my little Marly,” said 
the sick woman. “Somehow, that child whom 
H3 


ATM A FAIRY STORIES 


I never see has grown to be the dearest thing 
on earth to me.” 

With that Marly rushed to the bedside and 
tightly clung to his mother, and this time she 
knew and could see that he was there and it 
came to her how that he must have been with 
her many times before. She knew then that 
the greatest thing in the world was Love! 

“I am going to Marly,” she said, and 
threw out her arms to clasp something that 
no one saw. 

Every one said that she was delirious, but 
it was really the first time that she had seen 
with her true eyes. Then the Radiant Youth 
took one of her hands and Marly the other 
and they went away. 

People said that she was dead, but she only 
went far into the country whose borders are 
dreamland. Too far for even Marly to fol- 
low that night, but the Radiant Youth went 
all the way and left her with those who could 
better teach her the lessons of love she had 
begun to learn. 

Now that Marly’s mother had gone away, 
144 


WHAT HAPPENED TO MARLY 


the house in which she had lived was no longer 
a home to him, and he told the Radiant Youth 
that he never wanted to go there again. 

“Very well,” his companion replied. “We 
shall go somewhere else. Good-by for the 
present. Look for me next when you least ex- 
pect it.” And Marly found himself awake 
— alone — and, as usual, in his own little bed. 

The next morning was bright and full of 
rich golden sunshine that you see so plentifully 
in the early autumn. Marly started out to 
give the dog Rex a good run, for he was 
pawing the ground in a most impatient man- 
ner and jumping up and begging every one to 
take him for a walk. 

They ran and played together for some 
time until they came to a path along the edge 
of a river, into which Marly threw sticks for 
Rex to swim after and bring back to him. He 
became so warm at this sport that he threw off 
his jacket and entered into the fun with his 
whole heart. Rex was beside himself with 
joy, shaking his coat and wildly running about 
and barking. Suddenly Marly noticed a 

H5 


ATM A FAIRY STORIES 


horse being led to the river for a drink, and 
as the horse came whinnying toward the 
water he ran up to stroke him, when, much 
to his astonishment, he saw that the man who 
led the horse was no other than his old friend 
the Radiant Youth. 

“Well, Marly, here I am. Are you ready 
to go with me?” 

“To the end of the earth,” was the reply 
that came in a delighted surprise. 

The Radiant Youth wrapped a long cloak 
about Marly and lifted him upon the horse, 
then he picked up his jacket and mounted be- 
side him. When he was ready to start he 
whistled to Rex and threw the jacket into the 
river. Rex gave a leap and swam for the 
jacket, but before he reached the shore Marly 
and the Radiant youth had ridden away. 

Poor Rex, with the jacket in his mouth, 
looked all around, and then went home sad 
and dejected. 

Every one hunted for Marly, but could not 
find him, so they naturally thought that he had 
been drowned. Word was sent to his father 
146 


WHAT HAPPENED TO MARLY 


and brothers that Rex had come home with 
his wet jacket and had probably tried to 
save his life. A fortune that would have come 
to Marly when he was grown was divided 
among his brothers, but he came into greater 
wealth — the riches of a heart of pure gold, 
which he spends to this day without stint. 

In a secluded part of southern France are 
gathered together in a certain hospice a few 
rare souls who ever labor for the benefit of 
mankind. Having found their real selves, 
they have nothing more to gain on earth, so 
they help others to learn the lessons of love 
and sympathy. 

It was to them that Marly went and real- 
ized the longing of his life — a perfect home- 
coming. At last. Marly was home! For 
he had been taken to the hearts of those who 
could teach him true Wisdom. 

THE END. 


147 







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